Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 15 October 2025
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach
Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals
2:00 am
Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
It is very clear under the Article 41(2) of the Treaty on European Union, where it excludes the use of EU budget "arising from operations having military or defence implications". The European Union has found a way around this. It is using another article, which is about subsidising companies and so on and, as Mr. Knauer mentioned, not procuring ammunition or weapons of war. The reality is that it supports that industry. It supports that complex. It supports that capability. Irish taxpayers are being asked to fund a portion of this. As a military neutral country, that sticks in my craw. I think most people in Ireland do not support that idea. If member states want to increase their military capabilities, they should be entitled to do that. If they are part of NATO, it is their decision. Why is the European budget being used? I come to the regulation we are dealing with now. Will a portion of the European budget not be used to service the loans of up to €150 billion provided to member states? A portion of the European budget will be used in that context, which means Ireland will be contributing to that. Is that not the case?
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