Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Acting Chairman, Deputy Feighan, a happy Christmas and ask him to extend festive greetings from Sinn Féin to the Ceann Comhairle and all the team who run this Dáil. Nollaig shona don Taoiseach agus a chlann, don Teachta Martin agus na Teachtaí eile agus a teaglaigh. Athbhliain faoi mhaise díobh go léir.

The Taoiseach started his statement by trumpeting the success of our exiting the international bailout. My party has long advocated that he should say slán abhaile to the troika and we welcome that he has eventually come round to that position. However, the question arises of whether he really said slán to the troika. His remarks on strengthening EU economic policy co-ordination make it clear this State will remain under surveillance for several decades and even then the European Commission will be able to prolong the period of supervision. Indeed, the European Council can impose whatever measures it sees fit on the State. The troika mindset of austerity remains and its policies are being faithfully implemented by this Government. Fine Gael and the Labour Party were happy to blame the troika for the imposition of harsh cutbacks and new taxes which in reality were their own policies.

Despite the Government's best intentions, I do not think it has stood up for the interests of the vast majority of citizens. Choinnigh sibh an ciorcal órga sábhailte. Tá siad ann fós - sin an fhírinne. D'fhág sibh daoine eile gan phingin rua. The Government failed miserably in its attempt to have our banks recapitalised, despite the eurozone commitment of June 2012. The fiscal compact treaty and other arrangements, such as the two-pack and the six-pack arrangements, continue the erosion of our economic sovereignty. In treaty after treaty, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Labour Party have supported the dilution of Irish economic sovereignty. The European Union has more control over our political and economic future than ever before. We should not pretend there is any intention at EU level or within this Government to end austerity. Exiting the bailout will change little for middle and low income families. The legacy throughout the European Union is mass unemployment, and youth unemployment in particular, immigration, increased poverty and devastation of community and public services.

The European Parliament has established an inquiry into troika programmes in European member states and I understand a delegation will visit Ireland in January. I wonder what evidence the Government will bring before this inquiry. Will it tell the inquiry about the tens of thousands of young people who are scattered across the globe? Will it describe the impact of austerity on the most vulnerable of our citizens, including the young, the sick, the elderly, those with disabilities, carers and mortgage holders who are paying the price for its policies? Will it outline how our public services are being damaged on a daily basis or how food and fuel poverty in this developed State is increasing on a daily basis?

The European Council meeting will also discuss the Common Security and Defence Policy and, for the first time in approximately five years, it will deal extensively with military issues. The Taoiseach may be aware of the report by Catherine Ashton, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, on preparing the December 2013 European Council on security and defence. The report makes an argument for increased militarisation. I note the Taoiseach did not state the Government's opposition to the report. We have a world that is blighted by poverty, conflict, disease and hunger. We clearly need to increase our support for the developing world rather than create further militarisation or develop more effective weapons of mass destruction. The report discusses ways of contributing to international security but the best way to prevent war and conflict is by building peace through political negotiation and reconciliation within and between states. A progressive European Union should champion peace building and development aid instead of military adventurism.

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East and, in particular, the imposition of apartheid on the people of Palestine is unacceptable. The failure to intervene to uphold the rights of citizens in that region is an indictment of the international community. The conflict in Syria has also created a major crisis for refugees in particular. Will the Council discuss ways for member states to open their borders to take some of the men, women and children who have been left homeless and scared for their lives? One of the legacies of Nelson Mandela, who we laid to rest at the weekend, is the promotion of discussion, negotiation, compromise, reconciliation and peace building. The EU should learn from Madiba's experience that increased militarisation by the powerful will not help achieve peace or security but will have the opposite effect.

Catherine Ashton's report also states that work is underway to increase the usability of EU battle groups and notes that cost sharing or common funding must be addressed to foster member state involvement and to find consensus on battle groups. We do not hear the same sort of language in regard to dealing with hunger or aiding those who have been made homeless. These battle groups will create a standing European army that is ready for deployment anywhere in the world and will further weaken Irish neutrality and sovereignty. The report essentially sets out a coherent European imperial strategy and how increased militarisation and co-ordination of EU forces will help to achieve that aim. It is claimed, perhaps with justification, that one of the main reasons for establishing the EU was to build peace. Surely the militarisation of the European Union runs counter to that principle.

Time after time, people in this State and across this island have embraced that principle of active positive neutrality as a foreign policy matter. Will the Taoiseach urge and argue that the European Union should be a force for peace and reconciliation around the world, especially in the Middle East, and will he strongly make the case that the European Union should promote economic and social development rather than increasing the military budgets of its member states?

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