Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

At the outset, I congratulate the New Popular Front, which was victorious in securing plurality in the recent French elections. In doing so, it did a great service for all of Europe in ensuring that Marine Le Pen and her cohort did not seize power.

The recent Russian escalation in Ukraine, and particularly the brutal strike on a children's hospital in Kyiv, remind us all of the cost of war and who, ultimately, pays that cost. Recent events in Ukraine reinforce the imperative upon us to continually examine how best and most effectively we in Ireland can continue to support efforts to support the Ukrainian people, especially through the provision of humanitarian aid. We must also continue to focus our energy and resources on these humanitarian efforts and on supporting initiatives to deliver peace. Russia remains in gross violation of international law and Vladimir Putin's regime must be held accountable for its ongoing breaches of the UN Charter.

Ireland, as a neutral state with an independent foreign policy, must be consistent in defending international law. Currently, the EU is not being consistent and neither is this Government. When Ursula von der Leyen stood alongside Benjamin Netanyahu and stated that Europe stands with Israel, at a time when Israel had publicly declared its intention to starve the people of Gaza of food, water and energy, she exposed a duplicity and double standard that undermined the European Union. The decision of this Government in supporting the reappointment of Ms von der Leyen to a second term as Commission President has, in turn, undermined our position as a defender of peace, human rights and international law. It was a shameful position. It was also a missed opportunity on the Government's part to force a rethink of the EU's failure to consistently stand against aggression. Ursula von der Leyen has yet to withdraw her unconditional support of Israel. A reasonable question to ask is just how many innocent Palestinians Israel must murder before she decides to do so. Palestinians continue to be slaughtered as the world watches.

The EU continues to sit on its hands and this is the approach the Government endorsed when it endorsed this Commission President. It appears, unfortunately, that the media do not seem to be watching what is happening in Gaza as closely as they were. The one solace is that people around the globe remain horrified by what they are seeing. The demand to end the genocide and begin a new dawn that includes a free Palestine is rising, if anything.

Sinn Féin's vision is one of Ireland playing a constructive role in the wider world, committed to diplomacy, humanitarianism, peace building and co-operation with other states on global challenges, including poverty, world hunger, climate change, conflict resolution and migration. Recognising neutrality as the cornerstone of Ireland's independent foreign policy, we are utterly opposed to the removal of the need for unanimity on matters of foreign, security and defence policy. This is because we value the legacy we have inherited as a result of Ireland's independent foreign policy. The legacy of Irish neutrality is our role in working on nuclear non-proliferation, our humanitarianism, our contribution to the drafting of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, peacekeeping and the proud record of our UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, Syria, Congo, Chad, South Sudan and elsewhere. This has been our contribution to making the world a better place.

Being proud of our neutrality means being proud of those who have served on UN peacekeeping missions. It means prioritising UN missions. Unfortunately, this is not the vision of the Government. As I mentioned, last week at the European Council the Taoiseach endorsed Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as President of the European Commission. As well as her disgraceful position in endorsing an impending genocide in Palestine, Ms von der Leyen has also been clear that she intends to lead a Commission which could have a significant impact on Irish foreign, security and defence policy. Last week one media outlet included the term "more military might" as a summation of Ms Von der Leyen's second-term pitch. The implementation of her call to introduce qualified majority voting on foreign policy would mark the death knell of Ireland's independent foreign policy as well as our neutrality.

While many of us have long feared the EU's drift towards ever-increasing militarisation and its implications for Irish neutrality, what is now clear is that the greatest threat to our neutrality comes not from Europe but from a Fianna Fáil Minister for Foreign Affairs, the same person who told us at the time of the Nice treaty and Lisbon treaty referendums that we had nothing to fear with regard to neutrality because the Government had secured legally binding guarantees. Let us remind ourselves what those legally binding guarantees were because they amounted to the triple-lock neutrality protection being codified in the protocol of the Lisbon treaty. Now the Tánaiste wants to remove this protection.

Having established a very elaborate four-day gathering of the great and the good among the advocates for militarisation, the Tánaiste might have been humbled by the recognition in the chairperson's report from the defence and security forum that, in fact, there is no public appetite for the further undermining of Irish neutrality, but not so. Remember that in 2009 the Tánaiste was the Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Government that made the national declaration that Ireland will participate only in those projects or programmes that contribute to enhancing the capabilities required for participation in UN-mandated missions for peacekeeping, conflict prevention and strengthening international security in accordance with the principles of the United Nations charter. That was the position endorsed by the Irish people when they voted for a second time on the Lisbon treaty. The Tánaiste has no mandate to remove this protection now.

We know, unfortunately, that the Tánaiste's manifesto pledges are worthless. He has stated he wants to remove the triple-lock neutrality protection but he refuses to state to which conflict from which they are currently precluded he intends to send Irish troops. He has not outlined the potential implications of the Irish Defence Forces being sent to conflict regions without a UN mandate or what it would mean for our reputation or our ability to play a positive and constructive role in advancing peace and conflict resolution. He has not explained at all how he can advocate enlisting into missions without a UN mandate while simultaneously withdrawing the Irish Defence Forces from assignments that do have this mandate, such as the UNDOF Golan Heights mission.

All of this is the backdrop that has led to so much cynicism regarding the Government enjoining an ever-increasing number of PESCO and EDA missions with virtually no Oireachtas oversight. This is why Sinn Féin opposes these proposals. We have a different vision. We will oppose the Tánaiste's trajectory. The dishonest approach he has deployed, which intends to kill Irish neutrality bit by bit, has gone on too long. On the other hand, we want Ireland to lead in a different way. We want to rebuild our Defence Forces so we can protect our neutrality, defend and monitor our skies and seas, and protect ourselves from modern threats, including cyberattacks and hybrid attacks. We want to give our Defence Forces the respect they deserve so they, along with our diplomatic corps, can continue to be missionaries of a small nation that makes a big difference for the better of those all over the world. We want Ireland to be a voice against oppression, poverty and war. We want Ireland to be an international champion for peace, disarmament and multilateralism. I fear we have taken a step back through our endorsement of Ursula von der Leyen for a second term.

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