Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

There has been a newfound interest in defence in this country. This weekend, there was not one publication that did not have an opinion piece of some sort expressing a view on where defence should be at. They were written by various people. It is a matter of serious concern to me that people in this House and the Lower House find themselves speaking on such things as the triple lock and neutrality without the basic information they need to do so. My colleague Senator Clonan, who is here right now, speaks with informed knowledge of these things, but there are too many Members of this House who speak with uninformed knowledge of what the triple lock is about, what neutrality is about and what is required under international law when we talk about neutrality. We hear terms like “politically neutral” and “militarily neutral”. There is only one form of neutrality, and that is the one that comes under the Hague Convention. Members do not need a lecture from me, nor I am sure from my colleague Senator Clonan. Rather, what is needed are independent people to brief Members of the Oireachtas so that when we make public statements, they will have currency and be based on fact, not opinion. We need to be extremely careful as geopolitical plates are moving in this world. Statements made by politicians are being heard outside the country and we need to be sure that, when our politicians speak, they speak on the basis of knowledge and fact, not on the basis of what they feel or do not feel. Senator Clonan and I differ on the triple lock, which is perfectly reasonable, and I differ from other retired members of the Defence Forces on it while others see it from my point of view, but we can have an informed argument on it. Ultimately, we had a situation in Kabul where we needed to remove people, and the triple lock could have cost us seriously. I ask the Leader to organise the debate.