Defence and Neutrality: Motion [Private Members] Dail Éireann — 2026-05-20 ============================================================ Helen McEntee (FG), Meath East -----we are trying to keep peacekeeping troops on the ground for. The practical reality is that the veto power exercised or indeed threatened by permanent members of the Security Council can and does prevent action, including in circumstances where there is broad international support. For Ireland, this can create and in fact does create real and immediate consequences. In the absence of a UN mandate, deployments cannot proceed. They must cease, regardless of our position or of the will of this House. Deputy Heneghan asked why we are doing this now. I will give examples. We know very clearly that the troops I met in Limerick a few weeks ago will be the last operational mandate or battalion sent out to southern Lebanon for a peacekeeping mission that has been in situ for decades. We have a very proud tradition of sending thousands of members overseas over those years to protect people and keep them safe. The dynamic has changed and it is a very difficult situation now for civilians and our troops with that mission ending by next year. We will have no mandate to be able to support the people on the ground. We heard Deputy Callaghan speak and, like her, every peacekeeping troop or member of the Defence Forces I have met wants to continue that operation on the ground. That will not be possible. I will mention as another example Operation IRINI, which is an EU-led mission in the Mediterranean. We have our own troops on that mission. That is coming to an end on Sunday. It is not being renewed. We will not be able to keep our troops there as part of any new mission that is being progressed. This is what we are trying to do. We have members of the Defence Forces who train, are highly skilled and are highly experienced. As missions are not being renewed because the UN Security Council is not operating in the way it should - we all know that - we are having to take back our troops and we are not able to continue the fantastic work we are so proud they have been doing for so many years. The legislative changes I am proposing will address this issue directly. It will remove the requirement for the UN mandate as part of the decision-making framework while retaining robust safeguards. People want to know that there will be robust safeguards; that there will be Government approval and Dáil approval, where appropriate; and that this will continue to be required. All deployments will remain fully consistent with international law and with the principles of the UN Charter. Under these reforms we can continue to participate in missions such as Operation IRINI, which I have just mentioned. It is coming to an end and we will no longer be able to be part of it. On the question of any further potential missions in south Lebanon - I know our troops want to continue their work there - if the EU or any other regional organisation proposes such a mission, the House can decide to be part of that. I think that is a role the House should take on. I emphasise that even though the reforms to the triple lock legislation are often portrayed as altering our neutrality, they will not change our neutrality. I will repeat what Deputy Callaghan said: we were a neutral country before the triple lock was introduced. Amending it does not change the fact that we are a neutral country. The reforms do not signal any move towards participation in military alliances, nor would they do anything to expeditionary operations or diminish our commitment to the UN or to multilateralism. On the contrary, we will continue to regard the principles of the UN Charter as the foundation of our international engagement and we will actively support efforts to strengthen and reform the multilateral system. I have briefed and engaged directly with Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, on our intended approach. Our position and our ongoing commitment to the UN are well understood within the UN system, just as our peacekeepers are highly valued and appreciated. The UN does not see this as Ireland pulling away from the UN. This does not come across, nor does the UN believe that this is Ireland pulling away. The UN understands the need for us to be able to deploy our troops and to support the many missions they feel they cannot support because of the veto. Ireland's reputation as a peace-builder and as a contributor to conflict resolution, peacekeeping, human rights and disarmament is well established and will continue to guide our approach. We have all touched on the security environment. We can see that it is different from previous decades. We are witnessing increased geopolitical tensions, a weakening of established multilateral mechanisms in certain instances and the emergence of new and complex threats that do not respect national borders. Against that backdrop, it is both prudent and necessary that we ensure our legislative and policy frameworks remain fit for purpose. This includes ensuring the State has the capacity to respond in a timely and effective manner to emerging crises, whether they arise from conflict situations, humanitarian emergencies or risks to Irish citizens abroad. The ability to act when required and in line with our values is an essential component of a credible and responsible foreign and defence policy. Our participation in overseas missions, whether it is under the auspices of the United Nations, the European Union or other regional arrangements, has always been grounded in clear legal authority and a principled commitment to peacekeeping and conflict resolution. Nothing in the legislative proposals alters that fundamental position. Rather, what is being proposed is a pragmatic adjustment to ensure Ireland is not unduly constrained in circumstances where international consensus may be blocked for reasons completely unrelated to the merits of a particular mission. They may be completely unrelated, and we have seen that happen. In such situations it is reasonable that we retain our sovereign capacity to determine our own course of action, subject to the appropriate democratic oversight. Our international reputation, as we all agree, has been built over many decades and it is one of consistency, independence and willingness to contribute constructively in support of peace and stability. Our Defence Forces personnel are widely respected for their professionalism, their integrity and their dedication in challenging environments. Ensuring we can continue to deploy such personnel, where justified and where appropriate, is in keeping with that proud tradition. By next year, there will be hundreds of troops who will not be able to participate in a UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon in a way we have done for decades. This is because of the triple lock. What we are proposing here is to make sure we can continue to deploy our troops. I will touch on one other point. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-20/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:47+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-05-20