Ms Niamh Ní Bhriain:

Again, I refer to Poland as an example. It is the state getting the most money – €46 billion, more or less. If Poland cannot repay the €46 billion, the security for it will be the EU’s public budget. That necessarily means all member states have to contribute more in order to cover the debt. There is no other way around it; that is the way the fund has been built. Consider what will occur if Poland, Romania, France or another state defaults. In terms of its public finances, France is in a massive amount of debt at the moment. I would imagine that all the countries – I do not have the figures – already have a massive amount of debt, and they are now going to take on an even bigger amount to buy these weapons. However, it will fall to the EU to cover them if they default.

We already know what austerity looks like in Ireland. The Greeks already know what it looks like to be bailed out by the European Union and what that entails. For years on end, they have been repaying all the money. You are constantly on the back foot and you can never get ahead because you are weighed down by debt. In the most undemocratic process ever, we have approved a massive fund that will likely see Ireland incurring a massive amount of debt for weapons we might not ever see. I hope we do not, to be honest. Essentially, we are talking about Ireland paying for Poland’s weapons via the EU. There is a massive risk involved here.