Reformed Triple Lock would not impact neutrality
Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Simon Harris has said he does not believe a reformed Triple Lock would impact Ireland's policy of military neutrality.
The General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025 would remove the need for UN Security Council approval when deploying more than 12 members of the Defence Forces overseas when they are serving as part of an international force.
Draft legislation is currently in a scrutiny process which is expected to last eight weeks, after which a Bill will be drafted to go to Government for approval before going through the various stages of the Oireachtas.
The proposal has faced criticism from some Opposition TDs, who believe it could impact Ireland's long-standing policy of military neutrality.
However, Mr Harris said it should be up to the people of Ireland to decide where Irish peacekeepers are deployed, and that many neutral countries have no triple lock policy.
"I strongly believe that such consideration on international engagement should be within our sovereign control," he told the Dáil this morning.
"The people of Ireland decide where our peacekeepers go, their democratically elected officials decide, not people who've never received one vote in any constituency in this country.
"That's how our democracy works, how many neutral countries work. The Triple Lock is not the norm in other neutral countries."
He added: "There are militarily neutral countries, quite a number of them, that have no triple lock. There are many, many, many ways you can be a military neutral country and not have a triple lock.
"People in Ireland including me have a love for our military neutrality, we want to be militarily unaligned, the people of Ireland have an overwhelming desire for that."
Independent TD Catherine Connolly told the Dáil that Taoiseach Micheál Martin once called the Triple Lock a "fundamental part and the core of our neutrality".
"Perhaps you should talk to him about that, when did that change?" she said.
Social Democrats TD Sinead Gibney said she was struck by the draft legislation's "apparent lack of human rights monitoring mechanisms" which could be included as safeguards for the deployment of troops to peacekeeping missions.
Mr Harris responded saying the UN charter would be "at the heart" of the safeguards of the reformed legislation.
He said the mandate of any request for troops to participate in a peacekeeping mission would also be in compliance with Irish law and foreign policy as well as carrying the consent of the host nation and a trust in partners.
Labour TD Duncan Smith said he did not believe peacekeeping outside the UN was something that Government can "take a punt on".
He told the Dáil: "I don't think we should rush into removing the triple lock as part of this legislation at all. There is a process of reform ongoing in the UN, I think we should be leading on that.
"I fundamentally believe in the UN and any future of peacekeeping outside the UN is not something we can take a punt on at this point."
Mr Harris said the geopolitical situation has evolved "extraordinarily rapidly" in the last number of years.
He asked what Ireland would do if the UN did not renew the mandate under which Ireland's "brave men and women serving in Lebanon" operate.
What if one of the permanent members, "Donald Trump or Vladimir Putin", or an Elon Musk-driven cost savings measure, led to a veto on the mission, he asked.
Mr Harris said he believes should that happen, those peacekeepers should remain in place.
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