Helen McEntee accuses Opposition of ‘frustrating and delaying’ Bill to remove triple lock

The Government has accused the Opposition of deliberately delaying progress of the Bill to abolish the triple lock by refusing to agree a date for its debate at committee stage.In the increasingly bitter dispute over the Bill, there have been heated exchanges in the Dáil over the triple lock, with both sides remain deadlocked over when the next stage of the legislation will be debated.Minister for Defence Helen McEntee wants the Bill – which proposes to remove the requirement for a United Nations mandate for Defence Forces missions abroad – to be enacted by the end of the year.McEntee, who has said the move was needed for Ireland to maintain peacekeeping operations into 2027, has accused the Opposition of trying to frustrate and delay the legislation by not agreeing to a date for the committee stage of the Bill. READ MOREFor its part, the Opposition has said the Government is trying to railroad the legislation through the Oireachtas without giving adequate time for consideration. McEntee wrote to Oireachtas defence committee chairwoman Rose Conway-Walsh in October indicating her availability to come before it at the earliest possible date. Conway-Walsh, who is Sinn Féin TD for Mayo, has not committed to a date as yet. She said the committee would hold a private meeting on November 12th to plan for the process and would not give a date for the hearings until after that meeting. Government members of the committee have since written to her requesting an early date. Conway-Walsh has declined and said the matter “needs to be dealt with in a thorough and transparent manner”.In terse exchanges with Sinn Féin in the Dáil this week, McEntee accused the party of filibustering on the Bill. “Your are clearly trying to frustrate it, to delay the time,” she said. She said there were other ways of getting through the committee stage of the Bill, including arranging for it to be held in the main Dáil chamber rather than in the committee rooms.Several TDs, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said hundreds of amendments could be tabled to the Bill. Under the triple lock, the Government must secure UN approval before 12 or more members of the Defence Forces can be sent overseas with an armed international force or body. The Government wants to remove the UN requirement.McEntee and Thomas Byrne, the Minister for State in her department, have strongly rejected any suggestion it would lead to Ireland joining a military alliance such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) or a European Union defence pact.“Our neutrality is based on our non-military alliance,” she told the Dáil during a debate on Tuesday.“Article 29.4.9 [of the Constitution] states that we will not adopt any decision taken by the EU where it aligns with a common defence that would include our State. How can we be any clearer in that regard?”The Unifil Mission to Lebanon, which was mandated in 1978, is coming to an end at the end of the year. McEntee said in the Dáil she wanted the Defence Forces to join an EU mission in Lebanon to support the Lebanese state institutions, particularly that country’s armed forces. She acknowledged the mission would be different from Unifil and if a “force protection element” materialised in the mission, it would need changes to the triple lock for the Defence Forces to be involved. However, the Fine Gael Minister dismissed a claim that the removal of the triple lock would result in Irish troops fighting with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) against Hizbullah.“I received a report from senior management of the Defence Forces, who have received reports from senior personnel in Lebanon on the ground where their troops are concerned about this kind of narrative that we are going to send our troops to fight with the IDF against Hizbullah.”She said it was completely false. There has been disquiet among some TDs and senators in Fianna Fáil about the Bill as it stood at present. Former minister for defence Willie O’Dea has said he would want the Bill to retain a strong link to the UN, and his view has been supported by as many as 20 party colleagues.The Limerick City TD has drafted an amendment to the Bill, which he has sent to Byrne. O’Dea said on Thursday evening he hoped the amendment would be adopted by the Government during committee state. “If it is not accepted, we will have to consider our options,” he said.