Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I met the partners of people in the Defence Forces outside the gates of this House today and yet again I am hearing the same story, that our defence forces are at point of real crisis under the Minister of State's watch. That extends from officer level down to private level. We are all rightly proud of our Defence Forces, the work that 790 or so of them are doing in overseas missions and the work they have done in past. The way they have represented this country has been a huge service and brought great credit to this country, but they are being let down currently by the Government in how they are being managed. The response to that should not be what we are seeing here and what we have seen with the recent Government decision, as I understand it, to join PESCO, which is for us to go all in in terms of development as a key member of a new armaments-arranged combined European army development. We bring real strength to Europe with our tradition of neutrality and peace keeping and our tradition of scepticism and outright opposition to some of the military adventurism that we have seen from European neighbours in recent years and down through the years. We will not be able to support this proposal.

If the Minister of State is responding at the end of the debate, perhaps he will be able to answer another question I would like to ask. Why are we debating this matter in advance of a debate on the Government's decision that Ireland should join PESCO? Surely the Government's decision to go in this direction is strategically broader and of more historical significance than the decision to participate in EDA projects. By contrast, the Danish Government is maintaining its position that a country can be a full member of the EU without necessarily having to buy into this very real level of security co-operation and support for defence armaments industries. The EU is very upfront and clear about what it is seeking to do. An additional €500 million will have to be provided for armaments supports in 2019 and 2020 and €1.5 billion will have to be provided each year from 2021. I presume there will be an ongoing ramping up from there on. It was a mistake not to debate the Government's strategic decision on PESCO in advance of debating these operational investments. Why is the decision not on the agenda for next week? Surely we have to do it before 11 December, when, I understand, PESCO will be signed off at the European Council. Why are we not debating that? A date has not even been set for it to be debated next week. We have to debate it in advance of 11 December. When we have that debate, and the same point is raised here, the Green Party will stand for Ireland taking a strategic decision to maintain a proud and strong EU that is proud of its tradition of bringing peace to Europe in a way that did not exist for generations prior to its establishment. We cannot develop a Europe which is at peace with itself, but at war near its borders with neighbouring countries in a way that undermines the whole peace project aspect of the EU, which I like.

Deputies have mentioned member states' recent activities in Libya, which have devastated the region, as an example of what results from investment in armaments technology. I once heard someone referring to the kinetic power of munitions and military force. We bring the power of intelligence to peacekeeping and how it works. One can have all the satellites in the world. I understand that when Irish soldiers went to Liberia, where they did an incredible job as part of an incredible mission, they shared a computer with the people of a nearby village. That, more than anything else, helped to swing the local population over to them, thereby enabling them to carry out their peace mission. I was proud to be in government when we supported the difficult mission in Chad. It was difficult to get equipment and helicopters to Chad. As I understand it, the best thing we did there revolved around our decision not to build a big fortification. We did not drive our trucks through local villages in the middle of the wet season, thereby destroying the roads used by local farmers. That marks the intelligence of the personnel we are proud to have serving in our armed forces.

We bring these skills and strengths to Europe. I do not think it is necessary to buy into the big new satellite technology that allows others to look down from space and press a button from a military drone to kill people who do not know what is coming until they have been zapped. Lord knows what their surviving relations will do against the EU for ever and a day. That is not the way Europe needs to go. I want to support our Army. I would fund our Army. It needs funding. We should invest not in armaments but in human intelligence. We should start by investing in the soldiers who are increasingly unhappy with the way the Minister of State is running the Department of Defence.

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