Government proposes the removal of UN approval requirement for Triple Lock.
DÁIL Eireann will convene today to debate legislation which would amend the ‘Triple Lock’ mechanism, which has been in place for the past sixty-five years.
What is the Triple Lock?
The Triple Lock, a mechanism put into place by the Defence Act of 1960, encompasses three tests which must be satisfied before any more than 12 Irish troops can be deployed abroad. To meet the requirements of the Triple Lock, there must be a decision of the government, a vote of the Dáil, and United Nations support.
14 other EU member states have similar requirements around parliamentary decisions before sending troops abroad, but Ireland is the only country which requires UN approval for deployment.
What could change under new legislation?
The government proposes the removal of the requirement for UN approval and seeks to increase the number of troops which can be deployed without a Dáil vote to 50.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has stated the “world has changed,” and that Irish policy must adapt to new circumstances.
The government have argued that Ireland should not be held back by a stalemate on the UN Security Council (UNSC), which has not authorised a new peacekeeping mission since 2014.
This stalemate will also see the mandate for the UNIFIL mission in Lebanon expire later this year. Irish troops have served in Lebanon since the early 1980s.
The opposition says that the Triple Lock is central to Irish neutrality and has called on the government to put the question to the people in a referendum, with polls indicating that the public is opposed to the proposed change in legislation.
Dr Jonathan Arlow, Assistant Professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Limerick, remarked, “I’d say it’s problematic that the government is trying to remove the Triple Lock, which was part of a package of guarantees designed to address neutrality concerns following the rejection of the first referendum on the Nice Treaty in 2001. In fact, there is a legitimate question as to whether the second Nice referendum would have even passed without this guarantee.”
University student Sam Shore added, “The idea that the removal of the Triple Lock will jeopardize Ireland’s neutrality is a farce, there is no neutrality with Israeli forces allowed refuel in Ireland”.
The government has imposed a three-and-a-half-hour limit on the debate, which is scheduled for later this afternoon.