Military Neutrality
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-17
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Ruairí Ó Murchú (SF), Louth

We start from the point of view of the UNDOF mission to the Golan Heights and the fact that it was a governmental decision to step aside and remove us from that operation that we have been engaged in for a huge period of time. That is down to the fact that there was a run-down allowed of the Defence Forces. The one thing the Minister will get agreement on throughout the Chamber and throughout the campus is that there has been a long-term failure to invest in the Defence Forces and that when we even spoke of neutrality we did not have the capacity to actually operate as many other neutral countries or states did. That is a failing that needs to be addressed and I am not quite sure that is happening. We are hearing statements from the Minister about how she is going to deal with the Russian shadow fleet. How is that going to operate on a day-to-day basis? In relation to the triple lock and what the Minister has proposed as regards checks and balances, how would they actually work?

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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