Paul Murphy warns against abolishing triple lock without referendum
Paul Murphy challenged the Taoiseach over reports the Cabinet agreed to abolish the triple lock without a referendum. He accused the Government of reneging on promises made to secure the Nice and Lisbon treaties, warned that safeguards for Irish peacekeepers would be removed, and called for a referendum and a formal legal review.
Allegation of abolition without referendum
Paul Murphy asked whether the Cabinet had agreed that morning to press ahead with abolishing the triple lock without holding a referendum, and demanded to know why the Government was reneging on promises personally made to the Irish people to secure the Nice and Lisbon treaties.
Safeguards and legal review
He said the Tánaiste had promised alternative safeguards just last September but claimed there would be no safeguards to ensure Irish soldiers are sent only on genuine peacekeeping missions. He asked whether the Government had rejected the Oireachtas Committee's all-party recommendation for a formal legal review before troops could be deployed without UN approval.
Warnings about deployment and foreign wars
Murphy warned that under the proposed changes troops could be sent to fight abroad without UN mandate, citing Iraq as an example, and said the Government could send troops "to fight and die for Trump" wherever it agreed to go. He urged that life-and-death decisions be put to the people in a referendum so voters could choose.
Taoiseach's response on peacekeeping and the Security Council
The Taoiseach rejected the referendum proposal as "absolutely a ridiculous suggestion," defending the country's peacekeeping tradition and saying the law must change so that Russia or other permanent Security Council members do not effectively veto Irish participation. The Taoiseach spoke of the Security Council's paralysis and referred to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its humanitarian and infrastructure consequences when arguing for legal change.
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Taoiseach, did the Cabinet agree this morning to press ahead with abolishing the triple lock without holding a referendum? If it did, why are you reneging on the promises that you personally made to the Irish people in order to get the Nice and Lisbon treaties passed? It now seems crystal clear, despite the Taunashta promising me just last September that alternative safeguards would be introduced, that there will be no safeguards whatsoever to ensure that our soldiers can only be sent on genuine peacekeeping missions. Has the Government rejected the all-party recommendation of the Oireachtas Committee for a formal legal review to be carried out before Irish troops are sent into harm's way without UN approval? In other words, Taoiseach, under these new laws you could have sent troops to fight in Iraq. You'd be able to send troops to fight and die for Trump wherever he decides to if you decide to go along with it. Instead of you taking these life-and-death decisions, why don't you allow the people to decide in a referendum? Make your arguments, we'll make ours, and let the people decide in a referendum. I think it's absolutely a ridiculous suggestion. The first point I would make is we have a very honourable, proud peacekeeping reputation in this country. Government parties, all involved, absolutely committed to that peacekeeping tradition. It's because of that peacekeeping tradition that we need to change the law. We can't have Russia dictating as to when we enter a peacekeeping mission or not. That's the actual truth of it. You want Russia to have a veto, you want the US to have a veto, you want China to have a veto, and the other P5 members to have a veto on when Ireland participates in peacekeeping. The Security Council has been paralysed over two decades now. The situation has changed utterly. A country that invades a European country, like Russia invading Ukraine, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of young people, the devastation of civilian infrastructure, the destruction of energy infrastructure, freezing the people of Ukraine. You are saying that country should have a veto on where our peacekeepers should go, pop off.
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