Defence Forces
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-17
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Seán Crowe (SF), Dublin South-West

Surely any decision that could lead to significant shifts in foreign and defence policy must only be considered following robust engagement with the Irish people, and we have not seen this. This is the big weakness in the Minister of State's argument. We have not seen that engagement with people. People have not had the opportunity. I have no doubt that if there were a plebiscite, the Government's proposal would be rejected. If the Government is so sure and confident of its position in relation to the Irish people, why does it not put forward a plebiscite on this? It is a simple question. Will the Minister of State give us a simple answer on it? People want to know why the Government is intent on going down this road. We remember previous elections. Fianna Fáil ran in favour of Irish neutrality and said it would not do away with the triple lock and Fine Gael was the same. What has changed?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:38+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-17