Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

At the outset, I acknowledge the wives and partners of members of the Defence Forces who are protesting outside the House today and who will be there for the next number of hours. I will be joining them when I leave the Chamber. I wish them well and congratulate them on the fantastic work they have done to date in highlighting the difficulties their partners face serving in the Defence Forces in light of current pay and conditions.

Fianna Fáil will be supporting the motion. The EDA was established under a joint action of the Council of Ministers in July 2004 during the Irish Presidency.

Its mission, as stated on its website, is to support the member states and the Council in their effort to improve European defence capabilities in the field of crisis management and to sustain the European security and defence policy as it stands now and to develop it in the future. Ireland has participated in the framework of the EDA since it was established and it is important to note our participation in it does not impose specific obligations or commitments on Ireland, only that we make a contribution to the budget which funds the agency's day-to-day running.

Within its key mission, the EDA has three main sub-missions. They are to support the development of defence capabilities and military co-operation among the European member states; stimulating defence research in technology and strengthening the European defence industry; and acting as a military interface to EU policies. This work is done for the purposes of good and with the sole interest of protecting our people. We and the European Union are facing new and evolving threats all of the time. One prime example of this is in the area of cyber security. We need to protect our public services and ensure the business community and the many multinationals operating here operate in a safe jurisdiction and that we have protections in place to protect them from a cyber attack. Surely we can all agree and see the benefits of working with other member states to research in this area and to develop new technologies by pooling resources and technologies and allowing a small country such as ours to benefit from economies of scale by working with others. This approach is a no-brainer. We would be foolish and reckless to opt out instead of participating.

The key activities of our Defence Forces internationally are peace-keeping, co-operation with other countries in conflict prevention, strengthening national and international security and operating within a global community to promote peace and security across the globe. As a nation, we have a very proud record of operating within the UN. Since we became involved, our service has been constant; we have never had a day's break. Participation in the European Defence Agency means Ireland has access to research and information that allows us to develop and maintain our military capabilities. For the most part, due to the size of our country, this is research we cannot generate ourselves. Ireland's objectives in participating in the European Defence Agency is to achieve economies of scale in participating in defence procurement and to keep up-to-date on best practices, particularly in the area of multinational crisis management. This important work on the part of our Defence Forces is to keep up-to-date on best practice and to build the capabilities of our Defence Forces and in turn protect those serving in the Irish Defence Forces. This important work requires us to have the most up-to-date training and the best possible capabilities and that we enhance our capabilities and capacity by working with other member states. Some in the House are quite happy to laud the Defence Forces for their great humanitarian work, most recently in the Mediterranean, yet they will stand up and oppose any training of our troops to prepare them for this important work. The hypocrisy is unbelievable. I have said in the House before when our soldiers go overseas they are not going on holiday; they are operating in dangerous environments. We must at all times ensure our people have the best training and that they participate in training exercises with armies from other countries so we can share our knowledge and learn from best practice. We cannot take an insular approach to defence activities. The work our soldiers do in this sphere is peace-keeping and peace enforcement. We should always support any training activity that prepares them for such work.

I will address the two projects which are the basis of this motion. The EU Satellite Communications Market, category B project allows us to participate in a satellite service where all the member states pool resources and we access the resource only if we need it. This clearly allows for economies of scale for a country such as ours. Communications are vitally important in this day and age. We need to ensure we have a service that is consistently present and that there is no lapse in service. There is no cost unless we use it. Supporting this project and participating in it is sensible and wise.

The second project, the European Centre for Manual Neutralisation Capabilities, ECMAN, category B project, deals with providing courses and training for soldiers dealing with improvised explosive devices, IEDs. We have key expertise and experience in this area. Unfortunately we have lost experts in this area in the past number of years. We still have something to offer to other member states by participating and giving to the EDA and this project. We can also learn. The cost of this project presents value for money for our Defence Forces and our country and I am very happy to support it on behalf of the Fianna Fáil Party.

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