Jennifer Murnane O'Connor: Defending neutrality, updating deployment law

I want to thank everyone for raising this issue today. I'm taking this matter on behalf of Minister Helen McEntee and I welcome the opportunity to discuss the important matters raised in this motion. At a time when excellence and long-standing work of our defence forces in UNIFIL has been at the forefront of the public's mind, given the deterioration of security landscape in the Middle East region, and particularly in Lebanon, it is appreciated that we debate how we deploy our defence forces overseas. I would like to acknowledge all our defence forces personnel who are currently serving overseas and I am very mindful of the sacrifices that both they and their families make in serving their country and the interests of peace. Members may be aware that the rotation of our defence forces battalion in Lebanon is currently ongoing and expected to be completed by next week. I fully recognise the strong public interest in the deep attachment to Ireland's military neutrality, as well as the strength of the feeling around this issue. I also acknowledge that there are concerns and in some cases misunderstandings about the impact that proposed amendments to the Defence Act may have on that policy of military neutrality. This includes changes to the provision commonly referred to as the triple lock. However, the private member's motion today misrepresents both as it is linked with the proposed reform of the triple lock with Ireland's policy of neutrality and the amendment of domestic legislation with the need for a referendum on the issue. Firstly, I would like to outline what we mean when we talk about Ireland's policy of military neutrality. Ireland does not participate in military alliances or common or mutual defence arrangements. This policy choice has been practised by successive Governments since the Second World War. The Government has clarified this on many occasions in the past and I am happy to put it on the record again today that we have no plans to alter this policy. Indeed, the Government made this explicitly clear by including a commitment to preserving and protecting Ireland's policy of military neutrality in the programme for Government published last year. We did this because we know that Ireland's policy of military neutrality has long been an important stand of our independence foreign policy. This does not mean that we can isolate ourselves from the international security environment that we find ourselves in today. The changing global security context means that we have to take both our own security and our responsibility towards our like-minded partners more seriously than ever. For this reason, the Government is committed to broadening and deepening Ireland's international security engagement as well as our domestic efforts to ensure the security of our country. We all have to acknowledge that the world as we know it has changed considerably. The international rules-based order is under significant strain and Ireland needs to adapt to this new reality. In a mature democracy like ours, it is important that we have a responsive and considerate foreign policy as we have since the foundation of the state, and this is solely the sovereign responsibility of the Irish people. It is for this reason that the Government does not support the proposal to hold a referendum enshrining neutrality in the Constitution. The policy of military neutrality has always been a deliberately policy choice on the part of the successive Governments since the Second World War. However, this motion, if passed, would significantly restrict the Government's ability to exercise its policy-making authority with regard to the conduct of external relations as set out under Article 29 of the Constitution. Accordingly, the Government has no plans to bring forward legislation to hold a constitutional referendum on neutrality. I think we all recognise that the UN Security Council is not effectively fulfilling its primary role of maintaining global peace and security. The five permanent members of the UN Security Council have a veto power which can prevent the adoption of resolutions by the Security Council, including those authorising peacekeeping mandates. In practice, even the threat of veto is often enough to halt Council action. Ireland has consistently opposed the use of the veto, as demonstrated during our most recent term on the Security Council from 2021 to 2022, where we witnessed its use of several critical issues. As evidenced by challenges encountered last summer in relation to the renewal of the UNIFIL mandate in southern Lebanon, the threat or use of a UN Security Council veto is a significant complying factor in sustaining international peacekeeping operations. With particular regard to UNIFIL, the uncertainty caused by the possibility of a veto over negotiations of an extension to that mission's mandate last summer created a situation in which Ireland had to prepare a continuancy plan for immediate withdrawal of Defence Forces personnel in the event that the mandate was not extended. While the eventually renewal of the UNIFIL mandate until the end of this year, so it was renewed until the end of this year, has allowed for the continued deployment of Irish personnel, and the vulnerability remains there. Recent years have seen a trend towards an increase in the use of veto. The veto was exercised eight times in 2024 and four times in 2025. Indeed, 2024 saw the largest number of vetoed resolutions since 1986. The impact of the threat of veto on the work of the Security Council is more difficult to quantify, but its influence on the Council's liberation is clear to any informed observer. The Government believes therefore that the legislative underpinning the overseas deployment of our Defence Forces needs to be amended to reflect the current realities of which we are living. This Government and previous ones have been clear that we need a new process to replace the current system which effectively allows permanent members of the Security Council to bind Ireland's hands in its international engagement. Conflict and insecurity is clearly evident, and having a harrowing impact on communities across the world, and yet there has not been a new UN peacekeeping or peace enforcement mission mandate since 2014. What we need instead is a mechanism where our own Irish elected representatives in Government and Dáil have the power to direct dispatch of our Defence Forces overseas. The proposed changes to the legislation will continue to require Government and Dáil approval for the dispatch of Defence Forces as part of the international force such as the UN. If anything, a removal of the influence of an external organisation on Ireland's decision-making process in relation to the dispatch of military assets personnel enhances our ability to make national sovereign decisions on these key issues. Why would we wish to curtail our own independent decision-making? Whose interest does this serve? This is not in any way, shape or form an attempt to disengage from the UN. Ireland remains firmly committed to the UN and charters and to the UN peacekeeping operations. It is important to note that under these legislative proposals Ireland will make national decisions, but importantly they will be in line with the principles of the UN Charter and international law. Ireland has always taken an active approach to global challenges and made significant contributions to international peace and security. Partnership has always been at the heart of all our international engagement. We have always engaged constructively with our international partners in the UN and in the EU and we are committed to continuing to work closely with our fellow EU member states to the EU's common security and defence policy to address common challenges we face. In terms of the next step for proposed changes to the dispatch of Defence Forces personnel overseas, a memorandum for the Government seeking approval for the Bill will be brought to Government shortly. Subject to that approval, the Bill will then be published and progressed through to the Oireachtas. The Government's counter-motion therefore reiterates our support for Ireland's long-standing policy of military neutrality and our commitment to multilateralism and that the Government does not believe that a referendum on the matter is either necessary or appropriate. At the same time, it reflects our desire for a modern, fit-for-purpose foreign security and defence policy in keeping with the challenges we face today. It underscores the importance of ensuring Irish military deployment are to missions that uphold the principles of the UN Charter and international law, in line with our policy of military neutrality, and that they are decided solemnly by the elected sovereign representatives of the people of Ireland. Ireland's security and defence policy will remain firmly grounded in military neutrality, complemented by our active and principled engagement with the European Union, the United Nations and other international fora. In conclusion, our values are committed to multilateralism and to the rules-based international order, to the peace, have not changed, however. The global landscape has, and we must be capable of adopting its foreign and defence policy to meet these new realities. The Government's counter-motion reflects that balance. It reaffirms our commitment to neutrality and makes clear that a referendum is neither necessary nor appropriate, and underscores our determination to ensure that Ireland's foreign security and defence policy is modern, effective and fit-for-purpose. In light of this, I call on the House to support the Government's counter-motion.