Gerard P. Craughwell warns on triple lock and Search and Rescue safety
Gerard P. Craughwell addressed the Oireachtas on 26 February 2025, speaking on neutrality, the proposed triple lock legislation and safety concerns in Search and Rescue contracts. He opposed subservience to external bodies for defence decisions and urged domestic oversight and scrutiny of SAR arrangements in Shannon and Sligo.
Craughwell returned to concerns about the triple lock, noting the Tániste is moving legislation on the issue and that the triple lock is a recent addition to Irish practice rather than a longstanding constitutional feature. He warned against allowing "somebody outside our sovereign state making decisions for our defence forces" and said the public should decide how foreign permission factors into deployments.
He argued that checks and balances should be built within the state rather than relying on the United Nations Security Council, saying the matter should be debated in the House of Parliament, the Oireachtas, "both Shannon and Doyle," and possibly have additional oversight such as from the Council of State. He explicitly said he was not advocating referendums for every deployment but favoured stronger internal debate and oversight.
Craughwell raised urgent concerns about Search and Rescue provision, noting the Sligo contract will not start until 30 April and referencing an Independent story and contacts from senior pilots. He cited the Rescue 116 report, saying key recommendations - including having an aviator in the Department of Transport and an aviator in the Irish Coast Guard - have not been followed and that safety oversight remains insufficient.
He expressed doubt about the competence of the company awarded SAR responsibility, saying it is not, in his view, an internationally renowned Search and Rescue specialist and that many pilots share this concern. Craughwell said he had been told of two accidents and several further incidents during training, and he called for a minister with responsibility for SAR to be brought in for open parliamentary discussion.
Triple lock and national sovereignty
Craughwell returned to concerns about the triple lock, noting the Tániste is moving legislation on the issue and that the triple lock is a recent addition to Irish practice rather than a longstanding constitutional feature. He warned against allowing "somebody outside our sovereign state making decisions for our defence forces" and said the public should decide how foreign permission factors into deployments.
Domestic checks and parliamentary debate
He argued that checks and balances should be built within the state rather than relying on the United Nations Security Council, saying the matter should be debated in the House of Parliament, the Oireachtas, "both Shannon and Doyle," and possibly have additional oversight such as from the Council of State. He explicitly said he was not advocating referendums for every deployment but favoured stronger internal debate and oversight.
Search and Rescue contract delays and safety recommendations
Craughwell raised urgent concerns about Search and Rescue provision, noting the Sligo contract will not start until 30 April and referencing an Independent story and contacts from senior pilots. He cited the Rescue 116 report, saying key recommendations - including having an aviator in the Department of Transport and an aviator in the Irish Coast Guard - have not been followed and that safety oversight remains insufficient.
Concerns about contractor expertise and accidents
He expressed doubt about the competence of the company awarded SAR responsibility, saying it is not, in his view, an internationally renowned Search and Rescue specialist and that many pilots share this concern. Craughwell said he had been told of two accidents and several further incidents during training, and he called for a minister with responsibility for SAR to be brought in for open parliamentary discussion.
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Transcript
I'll get to go here, look. Leader, yesterday I spoke on neutrality and the triple lock, and I want to return to that briefly this morning, if I can. Simon Harris, the Tóniste, is about to bring forward legislation on the triple lock, and there is a lot of discussion and debate amongst the wider society about this terrible thing that's going to be brought about by government. There was a lot of misconceptions that the triple lock was always there. No, it wasn't always there. Triple lock is a fairly recent part of Irish history, so it is. But the public need to ask themselves, do we really want somebody outside our sovereign state making decisions for our defence forces at any time? I'm not advocating that we have carte blanche government consent troops wherever they want. What I am saying is that we should not be subservient to the United Nations Security Council at any state. If you want to build in checks and balances, build the checks and balances within the state itself. Let the citizens of this state decide. I'm not saying that we go to a referendum every time we need to deploy troops, but we can build a system where, first and foremost, it's debated in the House of Parliament, the Oireachtas, both Shannon and Doyle, and perhaps maybe the Council of State or somebody like that could have an oversight of that debate. Maybe that's the way forward. But clearly what we want to do is we want to put accurate information into the public domain. Firstly, it's not in the Constitution. Secondly, it is not there since the foundation of the state. And thirdly, it is requiring a sovereign state to seek permission from other states, some of which are belligerent against this state. So we need to sort that out. The other thing I want to bring up this morning, Leader, is I spoke about it last week, Search and Rescue, the contract in Shannon. We now know that the Sligo contract is not going to start until the 30th of April. This morning, the Independent has an extremely worrying story. And I have been contacted by senior people who are pilots. I'm not a pilot. I know nothing about it. I never flew Search and Rescue in my life. But what I do know is that we lost four people in this country as a result of mismanagement. And the Rescue 116 report would point out all of the flaws. And two of the flaws that were pointed out was the requirement to have an aviator in the Department of Transport and an aviator in the Irish Coast Guard. Neither of those recommendations have been followed. We have an oversight of the safety requirements of Search and Rescue. I'm not going to go back into the company that has it, but it is not an internationally renowned company with expertise in Search and Rescue, as far as I'm concerned. And as far as many pilots in the country are concerned, the company that has overseen these things does not have the breadth and depth of expertise that's required in this area. We're told two accidents took place. I'm told several more accidents have taken place in the training. We need to get a minister in here with responsibility for SAR and we need to discuss this in open form. Thank you.