The Government is to move ahead with its plan to reform the so-called triple lock governing overseas deployment of Irish troops after an Oireachtas committee reported on the matter.
The Coalition wants to remove the requirement for a UN mandate when deploying more than 12 troops overseas as part of an international force.
On Wednesday, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Defence and National Security published the report of its pre-legislative scrutiny of draft Government laws on the triple lock.
The committee recommended an independent legal review should be commissioned in advance of any overseas mission by Irish troops if the Government proceeds with its plans.
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The report argues for a strengthening of legal and Oireachtas oversight of Defence Forces activities abroad. It contends that the Oireachtas should have to vote on a regular basis to renew the mandate for deployment.
UN Security Council approval is one aspect of the triple lock consent mechanism, which also requires a Dáil vote and government decision.
Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Simon Harris said that, following the report, he would progress the legislation in the autumn.
“We are living in a new era in Europe, in which Ireland also faces significant new security and defence challenges, and we must consider how best to respond. This legislation is an important part of that response.”
The matter has become a topic of heated debate within the political system, with the Opposition arguing removal of UN Security Council endorsement represents a dilution of Irish neutrality.
The Government argues the current system allows for an effective veto by the council’s permanent members, such as Russia and China. No new peacekeeping mandate has been approved by the council since 2014.
Sinn Féin TD and committee chair Rose Conway-Walsh said the level of responses from the public indicated that the matter was “really important to the Irish people”.
She said there was a “direct conflict” between Government and Opposition on whether removal of the triple lock would affect Irish neutrality.
The Mayo TD said she would not accept the triple lock was on the way out. She said the Government members of the committee had refused an amendment which would have sought the retention of the triple lock.
The legislation would also allow for the deployment of up to 50 troops without a supporting Dáil resolution.
The report recommends that “at minimum, there be a formal legal review of any proposed deployment, undertaken by an independent body”. At regular intervals during a deployment the government should need a “renewed mandate” for the mission via a majority Dáil and government vote, and another formal legal review, it says.
Within 12 months of a deployment, a Dáil resolution should be sought for it to continue, it advises. The legislation should also allow the Dáil, Seanad or the Oireachtas defence committee to request an “urgent review” of deployments.
Opposition sources are claiming as a victory the lack of a recommendation within the report to remove the triple lock. However, neither does it contain a recommendation to retain it in its current form.
In her foreword to the report, Ms Conway-Walsh said nothing within the triple lock “deters the Irish Government from addressing the legacy of neglect of our Defence Forces”. She said Opposition members, several witnesses and “hundreds of submissions” from the public were “deeply concerned that this proposed legislation would present a threat to our neutrality”, while Government members and other witnesses said it would have no impact.
The report outlines that evidence on this aspect of the Bill “has been extensive but also often contradictory”.
The legislation contains provisions regarding the management of Defence Forces members charged with or convicted of serious criminal offences. These include options for their suspension from duty and new procedures to be followed during suspensions.
