Since the United Nations was founded, Ireland has stood steadfast for peace, multilateralism and acting only through a United Nations mandate. These have been core pillars of our international policy. This was something the Taoiseach used to recognise. He said attempts to dismantle the triple lock were "an out-of-touch ideological obsession on the part of Fine Gael which ignores the facts of Ireland’s international standing". Fianna Fáil has now been in government with Fine Gael for so long that their ideological obsessions have merged. Back then, the Taoiseach was clear the triple lock was at the core of our neutrality. He lambasted Fine Gael for its attempts to undermine it. Today a succession of Fianna Fáil Ministers are joining the Fine Gael chorus stating that the triple lock has nothing to do with our neutrality. It seems they have all drunk the Fine Gael Kool-Aid and are now singing off the same hymn sheet.

There have always been aggressors on the world stage, always those who seek to carve up the world and its resources. Ireland has always stood strong against these malign forces. In today's world, Putin and Trump are leading the charge to rip up multilateralism and we should never, ever follow them down that path. The response should be to stand strong in defence of peace and the United Nations. Instead, the Taoiseach is seeking to ditch Ireland's commitment to a multilateral approach.

Nonsense.

That is so wrong.

The Government is ripping up a multilateral approach. It absolutely is.

You want the veto.

It absolutely is. We have a multilateral approach and ripping up the triple lock would bring us into a unilateral approach. That is absolutely the case.

Deputies.

The UN mandate gives a legitimacy to peacekeeping missions which would be impossible to replace. The blue beret our troops have worn with pride offers them a huge level of protection, and instead of acknowledging that, the Government is undermining this. In the election, Fianna Fáil promised reform of the triple lock, not to tear it to shreds. Yet another election promise is in tatters.

On Friday, as parents of children with additional needs without a school place slept out on the streets, the Tánaiste advocated spending billions on buying fighter jets. Meanwhile, there are only enough navy personnel to crew one ship to patrol our extensive coastline. What other multilateral body can confer the same legitimacy as UN-mandated missions, and where does the Taoiseach want to send Irish troops that they cannot already go to?

First, Ireland has distinguished itself in the peacekeeping missions that have been deployed all over the world.

We pay tribute to members of Óglaigh na hÉireann for discharging their duties honourably and with great professionalism. They are much sought after in trouble spots across the world because of that professionalism and commitment. I will put that on the record.

Second, Ireland is very committed to multilateralism. I have been honoured to address the United Nations, and its various forums, on a number of occasions. I am a multilateralist at heart. The only way small nations can have ultimate security is by being multilateral and by engaging in international forums, and Ireland does that exceptionally well. We have a brilliant diplomatic network that represents us at different UN, EU and international forums. We have been invited onto the G20 because of our activist position on international affairs.

Ending the triple lock in no way undermines commitment to multilateralism and I think we need to demythologise this. How does it undermine our commitment to multilateralism? It simply does not. The consultative forum brought that out. It is by dint of our performance in pushing issues like women in peace and security as an agenda item for the UN, for example, or profiling the shocking treatment of women in Afghanistan at the UN that distinguishes Ireland in terms of policies. We led the clusters munition convention over two decades ago with four other countries - Norway, Peru and others - to try to get rid of cluster munitions from battlefields and the conduct of war. Let us not undermine ourselves.

There is a fundamental paradox in what the Deputy is saying. Three years ago, Russia brutally invaded Ukraine, bombing civilian infrastructure and seeking to undermine the UN Charter. Yet, the Deputy is saying that Russia gives legitimacy to any peacekeeping mission we would embark upon. Russia is on the Security Council. That is what we are talking about here. We are now saying that those the Deputy accuses of ripping up the multilateral order should be given a veto as to whether Ireland participates in peacekeeping.

Hear, hear.

That does not add up. It is completely in conflict. Both principles do not align at all. It is because of how Russia has been performing - others maybe put particularly Russia, and this did not just start with the invasion three years ago - that I cannot in conscience stand over a situation where we would say Russia should have a veto over whether Irish troops participate in peacekeeping missions.

I thank the Taoiseach.

Looking at the influence of the Wagner Group in the Sahel in Africa, providing security to rogue and puppet regimes, are we really saying that is the country that should veto whether we participate in peacekeeping or not?

Deputy O'Callaghan, please.

This is what the Taoiseach told the Dáil when he was in opposition:

Earlier this year, the Minister for Defence signalled that he would try to water down Ireland's commitment to the triple lock, which is at the core of our neutrality. He presented the idea it was contradictory and that we were giving unsavoury countries a veto over our actions. This argument has been behind the efforts of a wing of Fine Gael to erode neutrality over the years.

This is what the Taoiseach said. I could not put it better myself. He went on to say:

My party and I completely reject this. The United Nations is not working as it should [be] but we must not abandon it as an essential part of the international system.

Hear, hear.

Why has the Taoiseach capitulated to Fine Gael on this?

Because of war.

Russia invaded Ukraine.

Maybe because they shouted at him like they are shouting now.

That quotation was from nearly a decade ago. The Deputy did not address anything I put to him.

You addressed it yourself.

Three years ago we had a state like Russia upend the multilateral order, upend the UN Charter and invade a peaceful country like Ukraine. I was the Minister for Defence for two years before becoming Taoiseach and saw at first hand how the existing legislation restricts our capacity to participate in overseas events. Even the number of 12, for example, is ridiculously low and is hampering our efforts to get in to help civilians in very difficult situations, be it in Sudan or elsewhere, and to extricate them from trouble spots. We need far more flexibility than the current framework gives us. Without question, watching what has been happening in the Security Council for the past number of years, I have come to the view that there is no way.

A number of peace missions will emerge from it. We have not had one sanctioned by the Security Council since 2014. As the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, knows, it was at the eleventh hour that we got permission for the continuation of Operation ALTHEA, which enabled us to continue to participate, but only just.