Cabinet Committees
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-15
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Peadar Tóibín (AON), Meath West

One of the most controversial elements of the omnishambles of last week was the threat of the Garda and the Army. The Government was actually calling in the Army when TDs like me were trying to negotiate a peaceful resolution of the situation. There is also chaos within the Government.
The Minister, Deputy O’Callaghan, spoke to the Tánaiste and Taoiseach about utilising the Army for Whitegate refinery on Wednesday, 8 April. The next day, the Minister made public that a request was being made to the Defence Forces. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, was not informed until just before the request went in. Deputy McEntee is the Minister for Defence. She is the line manager when it comes to the Army. Why is it the case that we have this level of chaos within the Cabinet that the Minister, Deputy McEntee, is not being consulted? Did the public know about the Army being called in before the Minister for Defence knew?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-15