Neutrality and Triple Lock: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-16
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Sinéad Gibney (SD), Dublin Rathdown

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this vital motion. This is the most important issue that will be discussed in the Dáil in the coming months, and it is crucial that we have honest conversations about it.
The Minister used the phrase "muddy the waters" throughout her speech. All of the mud that flows into the water of this debate is coming from the Government's side of the House. All of the disconnect from reality is emanating from the Government's benches. Every time that I contribute on this issue, I have to start with the disconnect that is most prescient, which is that the Government continues to hold that the removal of the triple lock - its legislation is removal, not reform - will allow it to maintain a position of neutrality. That is not a feasible argument. It is not viable, and it is not a starting point by which we can have any kind of reasonable debate, so we must call that out immediately.
One of the things that I want to focus on, which is highlighted in this motion, is the neglect of the Defence Forces. Other colleagues have mentioned it. Again, one side of the House is responsible for the neglect of the Defence Forces, and it is the current Government and its parties in successive Governments. It is not the fault of the triple lock. It is certainly not the fault of the Opposition that the Defence Forces are in the state that they are in now. We support the level of funding that will allow us to build back up retention and recruitment, deal with the cultural issues that we have heard about from the Women of Honour, and get ourselves back to the capacity that we need to be at to have our naval fleet up and running, have sonar running and have the radar capacity that we need. It is the Government that is responsible.
At this stage of the debate, I am beginning to think that this is from the Thatcherite playbook of run it into the ground so that the Government can then fix it as it sees fit, except this time it is not the privatisation of a water company. Rather, it is the removal of neutrality as a core principle of our foreign policy that it is trying to ram through.
That is the reality we are dealing with and we have to call out the disingenuous way the Minister is polluting the waters of this debate.
I would like to check the time because I thought I had four minutes.

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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