Richard O'Donoghue criticises government on Defence pay, neutrality
Richard O'Donoghue criticised the Government's handling of the Defence Forces and warned against dismantling the triple lock without consulting the public. He urged investment in personnel and equipment and said changes to neutrality must be taken back to the people, citing a January 2025 poll showing 75% support for neutrality.
Allegations of unfair treatment
He commended members of the Defence Forces but apologised that successive governments have not treated them fairly on pay and conditions. He described unequal treatment in crises, saying some personnel received full support while others had to bring their own sandwiches.
Calls for investment in people and equipment
He argued the priority must be investment in the people who serve in the Defence Forces, followed by updating equipment that has not been renewed in years. He recalled an example raised by the party leader of a helicopter incident in which "the door fell off," to underline concerns about neglected equipment.
Constitutional and democratic objections
He cited Article 5 and Article 6 of the Constitution to argue sovereignty is vested in the people and that consulting citizens on national interest is a legal and democratic imperative. He said recent parliamentary action amounted to "not democracy" because it lacked open consultation and proper outcome-seeking meetings.
Poll evidence and mandate concerns
He pointed to a January 2025 poll showing 75% of people support neutrality, a finding he said was reflected across groups, regions and political parties, including Fianna Fáil and Fáil and Fianna Gael. From that, he concluded the Government has no mandate to remove the triple lock and warned that doing so without consultation would be a dangerous subversion of democracy.
Call to return the issue to voters
He repeatedly urged the Government and the minister to take the neutrality and triple lock question back to the people, asking why elected representatives are afraid to seek a clear public mandate and stressing that protecting and properly equipping the Defence Forces must come first.
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Thank you. At the very outside, as the General Secretary of Independent Ireland, I commend everyone in the Defence Forces. I commend everyone in our armies. I commend everyone that is here as a protector of Ireland. But I also say to those people I am sorry that the governments and the previous governments have not treated them with fairness, even with pay. Conditions. We have seen when we have called out our forces to help us in times of crisis, where one side of our forces get treated well, other ones had to bring sandwiches, their own sandwiches, whereas other parts of our forces were giving food and looked after. Their pay party, their living conditions, while they are out there to protect us. Again, it is not fair. The investment that we need to put into our Defence Forces is into the people that are in the Defence Forces first. Then we put it into equipment that we need ourselves, which has not been updated in years, for our own basic security. And look after the people in the Defence Forces. Article 5 of the Government of the Heron established that Ireland is a sovereign, independent, democratic state. While Article 6 sets out that all powers of Government, Legislative, Executive and Judicial deprive from the people. Under our Constitution, sovereignty therefore is vested in the people. And consulting us on matters of national interest is not only a legal imperative, it is the cornerstone of democracy. Democracy is a big thing that has been brought up here yesterday, even in this Chamber of Democracy. Yesterday when we saw what was pushed through a Dáil here yesterday. Which is not democracy. Democracy is open and meetings to make sure that we come out with a proper result. This was not democracy yesterday. But Minister, the failure to consult the people is even more concerning, if we consider that in January 2025, a poll showed that 75% of Irish people support neutrality. As a result, it was reflected across all groups, regions and political parties, including Fianna Fáil and Fáil and Fianna Gael. This would indicate that the Government has no mandate whatsoever to dismantle the triple lock. And attempting to do so without consulting the people is a dangerous subversion of democracy. Again, we are back to democracy. Why don't we take this back to the people of Ireland? And ask them, do they want to remove the triple lock? Why? Because you'll get a loud and clear message as shown on the survey that says 75% of the people do not want it removed. 75% of the people here in Ireland believe in our neutrality. That's why. So why are you so afraid to take it to the people? People. People got elected here by the people. So why not take it back to the people on our very thing of neutrality? I'll go back to an investment that we've had in our defence forces. It's been mentioned here by Michael Collins, our party leader, when we had a helicopter that the door fell off of. We will not look after our own defence forces and our equipment first before we start doing anything else. Look after our own. Is there something wrong with that? I don't believe there is. But it looks like the government does. Thank you.
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