Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I will take that back. It was another con trotted out just to give this idea to the public of who the Government is. What it does in private is completely different. Very clearly, the Opposition cannot trust this Government.

I want to talk about another issue. It has been clearly flagged that the Government is going to bring forward a proposal to remove the triple lock. That proposal will be brought to Cabinet next month. Whenever the Tánaiste is asked about that proposal, he talks in riddles. We know that the Tánaiste wants to remove the requirement for peacekeeping missions to have a UN mandate but we are totally in the dark about what he plans to replace it with. Yesterday, my colleague, Deputy Gibney, was told by the Tánaiste that these plans have been long in the making. Why can we not be provided with any clarity? If it has been so long in the making, what exactly is the Tánaiste looking to replace it with? Will it be a double lock? Will it be a single lock? Will the UN have any role in the process at all? These are very reasonable questions for something that has been long in the making and I hope the Tánaiste can give us some clarity.

I am not saying for a second that the UN is perfect, far from it, but we all remember the horrors from which it was born. Therefore, now is not the time to be removing ourselves from these institutions that we should be committing to building up. If we remove ourselves from the triple lock and the UN, is the Government saying that we will go on NATO missions? Will they be EU-led missions? What missions would the Tánaiste like to send our troops on that cannot be done under the triple lock as it stands? I would like answers to these questions.

The Tánaiste said he would want to work constructively across the House in respect of the triple lock. We are off to a very poor start in that regard so we will take that with a large pinch of salt. Trust has been broken. I ask the Tánaiste not to speak in riddles about the triple lock. What exactly is the proposal?

One more time, I implore the Tánaiste not to ram through these undemocratic proposals. We all know that backbenchers have speaking time during questions on promised legislation. There is ample opportunity for backbenchers to have their voices heard.

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