Neutrality and Triple Lock: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-16
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Cathy Bennett (SF), Cavan-Monaghan

Many people are deeply concerned regarding the Government's proposal to remove the triple lock neutrality protection, and with good reason. This insincere amendment brought forward by the Government cuts to the heart of why, as it is wholly at odds with reality, Government policy and the Government's own statements.
The Minister says that gutting the triple lock will not have any impact on the policy of military neutrality. As she is the Minister for Defence and the Minister for foreign affairs, I ask her to look at the Department of foreign affair's website, which clearly states that our EU partners understand our policy of military neutrality through the protocol attached to the Lisbon treaty. That protocol is the triple lock codified. The Minister's amendment states that the triple lock is not a determination or an expression of our neutrality. Why then is the aforementioned reference to it listed on the Department's website under the heading "neutrality". Of course, An Taoiseach famously said in 2013 that the triple lock was at the core of our neutrality. An Taoiseach and the Minister for foreign affairs, representing the parties of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, which are joined at the hip, should have confidence in their proposal, put it before the Irish people and call for a referendum. It is the very least that they can do. They should also correct the record and account for whether they are telling the truth because these statements are contradictory to what is on the Government's website. It cannot be both and the Irish people deserve honesty from their Government.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-16/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-16