Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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166. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the communications he has had with the United Nations in relation to Ireland’s departure from the UN mandate to deploy troops abroad; the interdepartmental communications he has had in relation to maintaining Irish neutrality; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15535/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, Ireland has long history of participating in UN peacekeeping operations. With an unbroken record of service in UN peacekeeping since 1958, Ireland has contributed to a range of UN missions across the world. Just recently I had the honour to visit our troops stationed in Lebanon and saw first-hand the vital role they are playing with UNIFIL, where many thousands of Irish soldiers have been deployed over a number of decades. I can assure the Deputy that our commitment to the UN, and in particular, to UN peacekeeping operations, remains unwavering. My officials, including those based at our Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, remain in constant contact with the UN and its Department of Peacekeeping Operations.

Ireland's policy of military neutrality, as practised by successive Governments, means that Ireland does not participate in military alliances or common or mutual defence arrangements. The Government has been clear that it has no desire to alter Ireland’s policy of military neutrality. The triple lock refers to a three-stage process to approve the deployment of troops on a peacekeeping mission. There is no connection between the triple lock and our military neutrality, and the Programme for Government makes clear that any amendments to the Triple Lock legislation will be in keeping with Ireland's policy of military neutrality.