Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)

Tairgim leasú a 2:

I gCuid 1, leathanach 7, idir línte 22 agus 23, an méid seo a leanas a chur isteach:

"Chuige sin, déanfaidh an Stát, go háirithe, beartas neamhchomhaltais a chothabháil maidir le comhghuaillíochtaí míleata.",

agus

I gCuid 2, leathanach 9, idir línte 33 agus 34, an méid seo a leanas a chur isteach:

"To this end the State shall, in particular, maintain a policy of non-membership of military alliances.".

I move amendment No. 2:

In Part 1, page 6, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following:

"Chuige sin, déanfaidh an Stát, go háirithe, beartas neamhchomhaltais a chothabháil maidir le comhghuaillíochtaí míleata.",

and

In Part 2, page 8, between lines 33 and 34, to insert the following:

"To this end the State shall, in particular, maintain a policy of non-membership of military alliances.".

I propose this amendment and hope the Minister of State and other Senators will recognise it as an effort to contribute to the debate, shape the Bill and address some of the deficiencies of the Lisbon treaty. This highlights the nonsense spoken by the Minister of State in his suggestion that people are out to destroy Europe. No one seeks to destroy Europe and I am glad to have the opportunity to speak to this amendment. I hope the same approach as was taken in the Dáil is not taken, with the Government thinking I am going on and on and then guillotining the debate. I hope the Minister of State lives up to his promise that he will facilitate full debate on this issue. I do not intend to keep Members long.

The amendment relates to non-membership of military alliances and seeks to address the failure of Government negotiators to ensure Irish neutrality is protected in this treaty. This is a crucial issue for Irish people and, incidentally, many references are made in the treaty to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO, a military alliance.

Sinn Féin has a clear vision of the kind of EU it wishes to see develop. We want an EU that promotes conflict resolution, peace-building and global stability. We want an EU that protects neutrality and opposes militarisation and the arms trade. In the past Sinn Féin tabled legislation in the Oireachtas to enshrine neutrality in the 1937 Constitution. I believe this is something that would receive the support of the people of this State who are neither comfortable nor happy with the increased militarisation of Europe and the world and the use of EU troops in operations dictated by the EU rather than the United Nations. Had our previous proposal to enshrine neutrality explicitly in the Constitution been accepted, we would not have to be here discussing this amendment today.

Proponents of the Lisbon treaty will argue that the triple lock, whereby military interventions abroad require a UN mandate, the consent of the Government and the consent of the Houses of the Oireachtas, defends Irish neutrality. However, the triple lock has been weakened already by legislation in 2007 that opened the way for military interventions abroad based on UN authorisation rather than a formal UN mandate. Authorisation would not necessarily require a UN resolution, rather a weaker form of UN assent, such as compatibility with the UN Charter.

The Lisbon treaty also dispenses with the requirement for a UN mandate for military interventions, thus neither Irish nor EU deployments abroad will automatically require a specific UN resolution for military operations. This is made more worrying when one considers the expansion of the scope of EU military actions contained in the Lisbon treaty. In Article 28 B(1) of the treaty the Petersberg Tasks, which list the types of military interventions deemed possible, are expanded to include joint disarmament operations, military advice and assistance tasks and post-conflict stabilisation. The treaty also contains new obligations in Articles 28 A(7)and 188 R, whereby member states must assist others that are victims of armed aggression, the mutual defence clause, or a terrorist attack, the mutual solidarity clause.

Combined, these changes weaken the threshold for UN sanctions for military interventions abroad while significantly expanding the scope for such action. When taken with the sections on common defence, NATO and military expenditure they signal the most substantial erosion of neutrality and control over foreign policy to date. It also moves us further down the road to a common defence while significantly advancing the capabilities and competencies of the EU to act independently on the world stage. When the European Commissioner Romano Prodi said in 2001, "Are we all clear that we want to build something that can aspire to be a world power?" it was this vision that he was alluding to.

This is why I propose this amendment which seeks ensure the State maintains a policy of non-membership of military alliances. I ask that it be accepted as I feel a majority of the people would want this.