Military Neutrality
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-17
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Helen McEntee (FG), Meath East

Respectfully, if we cannot send troops to engage in peacekeeping missions then we are going to lose that level of respect that we have had for many years. Countries will look at us and ask how do we not have the ability to send our own troops where we want to send them.
That is the situation we will find ourselves in. The world is changing. We need to update our laws. They are currently not fit for purpose when it comes to the deployment of troops.
In terms of the safeguards and checks, the legislation will be very clear. Troops can only be deployed for peacekeeping reasons, not for any reason or purpose other than peacekeeping. Of course, we will have to take on board recommendations and views from the Defence Forces, which will be part of this. There will then have to be a recommendation to Government which has to be agreed by Government. It will then have to be debated in the Houses, where everybody represents the people who elected them. That is where their voices are heard. There are then different stages within that.
If there is a mission with fewer than 50 troops, it will go through a particular process. If there are over 50 personnel being deployed, it will have to be sent to the committee afterwards to scrutinise whether the legislation was applied. The legislation itself, which we have not gone through and debated in the House, will have to comply with international law. We will be clear that any mission will have to be in line with the UN Charter. That will be debated and Members will be an opportunity to go through it when the legislation is going through the House. We all represent the people who have elected us. It is important that all of us, me included, engage with our constituents and those who want to discuss this. This is a really important issue and I am not minimising that, but I wish we would not conflate two things. This is not about neutrality; it is about how we deploy troops.

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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