Paul Murphy: Criticises Triple Lock Abandonment, Calls for Inquiry

I see that the Green Party has once more wrestled with its conscience and once more, unsurprisingly, the Green Party has emerged victorious in ditching another one of its so-called principles, that is by signing up together with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to abandon the triple lock. The government and yourself, Taoiseach, like to present this abandonment of the triple lock, this abandonment of a commitment in the programme for government as a response to Putin's invasion of Ukraine. But that isn't true, is it Taoiseach? If you go back 20 years, you can read a policy document from Fianna Gael called Beyond Neutrality, where the triple lock system is described as being, quote, in fact, a political straitjacket. You can go through the record of the Dáil, you can see the Taoiseach himself on the record of the Dáil, in 2008, describing the triple lock as not right, such decisions should be made in the Dáil, or if not here, by an elected European Parliament. So isn't it the case that there was always the plan of Fianna Gael to seize the appropriate moment to try and abandon the triple lock, which would free up a government, which has majority Dáil support, to send troops abroad. For example, to send them to the Middle East to participate in U.S.-led military adventures. Thank you again for their questions. The work and report of the Independent Review Group into dignity and equality in the Defence Forces has raised very profound issues relating to culture and unacceptable behaviour. The value of the report has been demonstrated by the widespread report for its recommendations and the universal reaction of shock and dismay at its contents and conclusions. What is now vital is that we quickly build on the work of the review, and a statutory inquiry is the logical, necessary next step. The Thornstein Minister of Defence has obtained government approval to establish an independent judge-led statutory inquiry. It will investigate whether there have been serious systemic failures in the complaint system and the Defence Forces in relation to interpersonal issues, including but not limited to sexual misconduct. My understanding is that it will apply to men and women. I will double-check that, but that is my understanding. The Thornstein tends to bring forward terms of reference for this inquiry as soon as possible. To this end, I understand the process of engagement with stakeholders has commenced. The Thornstein has met with all relevant partners, including the Women of Honour, the Women and Men of Honour, PD Fora, RECO and the Veterans Association, and he will continue to do so. I am advised that their observations and suggestions on the draft terms, provided them recently are awaited. The Thornstein is also in consultation with the Attorney-General on the appointment of a judge or retired judge to lead this inquiry, and he intends to bring a nomination to the government in the coming weeks. Just in relation to the defence and security policy question that was raised, again, I can be very clear at the House. The government has no plans whatsoever to apply for NATO membership. We are NATO partners through the Partnership for Peace, and have been for a very long time, and that will continue. And we will continue to be involved in PESCO, which is the European Union's common security and defence policy, which I believe is to our benefit and to the benefit of our security. One thing you are absolutely right about, I have never been a supporter of the Triple Lock, and I have never pretended to be a supporter of the Triple Lock. I remember how it came about. I can't remember whether it was the Lisbon Treaty or whether it was the Nice Treaty, but a conspiracy theory was spun by people on the left, that if people voted for the Lisbon Treaty, that there would be an EU army, and that we might be conscripted into it. And long before the social media world, there were conspiracy theories that people took seriously, and as part of the response to that absurd, untrue, and provenly untrue conspiracy theory perpetrated by some people at the time, neither of those things have happened. And I don't believe it's appropriate that we should allow Russia or China or Britain or France or America to decide whether or not we send troops on missions abroad. That should be the decision for government and for the Dáil.