There were a couple of lines in the Minister of State's speech that jumped out, but there was one in particular. The Minister of State said "the Private Members' motion today misrepresents both as it links the proposed reform of the triple lock with Ireland's policy of neutrality". I have heard that previously. The Minister of State is saying that it is unreasonable to link changes to the Defence Acts, which govern the deployment of Irish personnel as part of an international force, with neutrality. The suggestion is that it is somehow an unreasonable connection. The Government is amending the Defence Acts to allow a greater set of circumstances in which Irish personnel could be deployed as part of an international force and suggests somehow that this has nothing to do with neutrality. We get some daft talking points in this place, but that is right up there. I encourage the civil servants to drop that point. It makes absolutely no sense. The fact is that the triple lock is central to neutrality. The Taoiseach has said so numerous times. It is a cornerstone of our foreign policy. Those are his words. The Government sometimes in this debate likes to cast itself as far-seeing and wise, and suggests that those of us on this side of the House do not see the bigger picture. As far as I am concerned, what the Government is doing is reckless, foolish, careless and short-sighted. Ultimately, it will significantly diminish Ireland's place in the world. I hear the Taoiseach talking about the importance of multilateralism, international law and so on, at the very same time that he is undermining the UN. He and the Minister of State and their Government are the ones talking about deploying Irish personnel. We hope they will be deployed on peacekeeping missions, but it is very likely that they will go on other kinds of deployments outside international law and without a UN mandate. That is what this is about. People talk about the Security Council. There is an awful lot of talk of vetoes and so on. The reality is more complex. At the end of the day, it is not the case that there is going to be some high-minded UN-led missions that we are not going to be on. The mission would not proceed otherwise. There is no UN peacekeeping mission without a UN mandate. There are a lot of other myths. People talk about Irish citizens at risk, humanitarian evacuations, drug interdictions and different things. The reality is that the triple lock does not prevent any of those things. It does not prevent the Defence Forces participating in humanitarian evacuation, the rescue of civilians, training, drug interdictions or any of those things, nor does it prevent us from investing in our Defence Forces. As far as I am concerned, Ireland should be strong on defence and neutrality. This Government is neither. Allowances agreed with the Defence Forces have been unpaid. Several personnel are down by thousands of euro. Overtime is not being recorded properly, and, therefore, personnel are not getting the overtime they ought to be getting. That is the reality of the Government's relationship with the Defence Forces. They have been neglected and more people have left than joined in recent years. The triple lock does not prevent us from showing adequate respect to the men and women in our Defence Forces. It does mean that when Irishmen and Irishwomen serve as a part of a peacekeeping mission, they do so under a UN flag. They have done so with pride and distinction for generations. We ought to be proud of them. In recent weeks and months, they have faced enormous risks as they hold their position in Lebanon, which is being attacked by an Israeli Government that is hell-bent on occupying south Lebanon and expanding into more of it. This is an Israeli Government backed to the hilt by the United States. For a generation now, the Government has facilitated the US military's expansion, attacks and illegal wars. There was an under-reporting of 250 flights over Ireland last year. Some €20 million in dual-use licences have been handed out. At the same time that the Government is saying that the triple lock has nothing to do with our neutrality, it is riding roughshod over neutrality by facilitating flights over Ireland and through Shannon Airport with weaponry, personnel and so on. The reality is that the Irish people take a lot of pride in neutrality but they also see that it makes sense for Ireland. Ireland is never going to be a major military power. The people know the best way we can exert influence is through standing up for international law and calling out breaches, whether by friend or foe, and whether we have a good relationship or a bad relationship with the country in question. The Government is failing on that count and it should stop itself from going further down this road by getting rid of the triple lock neutrality protection.

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