Mattie McGrath criticises 'talking shop' Consultative Forum
Mattie McGrath criticised a Consultative Forum on neutrality and defence, calling it a costly 'talking shop' and arguing the elected House should debate these matters. He said funds should be spent on supporting the army and improving conditions rather than on select forums that sideline elected representatives.
Main criticism
McGrath told the House that a select group meeting up in Dublin Castle and around the country was unnecessary and expensive - a 'talking shop' designed to elicit a desired answer. He said the issue of neutrality and defence should be debated by the elected members in this House rather than by packed external forums and hangers-on from NGOs.
Neutrality and parliamentary debate
McGrath asserted that discussions elsewhere had described Irish neutrality as an outdated position, and he emphasised that elected representatives should not be ignored. He described it as shocking that the House had been bypassed and insisted the report from the forum would be appropriate to debate in the House.
Government response on defence spending and participation
A government speaker responded that the defence budget rose by €70 million last year and that the government was committed to investing in defence forces, equipment and pay, comparing favourably with other jurisdictions. The speaker also said opposition parties had been invited to participate in the forum, though perhaps not as keynote speakers, and that the forum was intended to be interactive.
Details of invited participants
The transcript records that representatives from EU member states were invited, including Austria, Malta and Cyprus, and that panellists from Finland, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland were due to speak. McGrath disputed the distinction made by the Taoiseach between being invited to sit in the audience and being invited to participate in the debate.
Data centres and parliamentary scheduling
Speakers concluded by reiterating the stated aim of the forum - to hear from a variety of partners about foreign and security policy choices - and suggested that debate on data centres should be scheduled for opposition time because legislation needed to be progressed before the recess.
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A question of this Consultative Forum. If you wanted to pay the army and support them and give them proper conditions, do it. You don't need a select group up in Dublin Castle and around the country at huge expense and just literally a talking shop to get the answer, the desired answer you want. It's really up to people here for our change in neutrality. The talks has stated numerous times that our neutrality was a rather outdated position at the moment, so we know what's going on. This is the house of the elected people to disrupt us and here we should debate this, not having these forums with packed, as others have said, packed people to get the desired answer and some hangers-on from NGOs as well, of course, a great party and a great carry-on, but ignoring again, once again, the duly elected people of this house, the privileged people that are elected to this house for the time being, I think it's shocking. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. I just wanted to point out that the increase in the defence budget for last year was €70 million. This is a government that is committed to investing in our defence forces and making sure that our defence forces have better equipment. We have seen a significant improvement in pay in recent years and it now compares very favourably with other jurisdictions like the UK and the US, for example. Opposition parties, to the best of my knowledge, have been invited to participate in the forum. They might not have been asked to give a keynote speech, but they have been invited to participate in the forum and we would welcome that they do so. It is a forum, so people will be able to participate. That's the whole idea of it. I would have no difficulty in the report being debated in the House. I think that's a good idea and I think that would be entirely appropriate. I just want to confirm that representatives of all EU member states have been invited to attend the forum. That includes Austria, Malta and Cyprus. And also representatives from Finland, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland, which is neutral, have been invited to speak as panellists. The Taoiseach is misrepresenting the position. There is a distinction between being invited to sit in the audience and listen to government representatives as opposed to being invited to participate in the debate. And that is the case for both members of the... DEPUTIICE RACIAL DEPUTI Qin DEPUTY the chairperson in this matter. I would ask for your cooperation. Thank you. Let the thong to finish once. Please don't take two bites of the cherry. Thank you. Thanks, Deputy. Just to conclude, the aim of the forum is to hear from a variety of partners about their foreign and security policy choices, and it will be an interactive forum. People will be invited to speak and make their contributions. Finally, on the issue of data centres, I have no difficulty having a debate about our policy and data centres, but I would suggest that opposition time be used for that. We have legislation. A lot of us need to get it through by the recess, and I would suggest that opposition time be used.
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