Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I wish to share time with Deputy Bríd Smith.

The Government is pulling a fast one here and Fianna Fáil is collaborating, indeed colluding with it in that. That should be no surprise. Fianna Fáil brought eternal shame on this country in allowing the US military use Shannon Airport to prosecute the criminal US assault on Iraq which resulted in as many as 1 million deaths, 4 million people forced to flee their homes, the absolute destruction of Iraqi society and, ultimately, laid the seeds for the destabilisation of Syria that is now unfolding in the most horrific way. All of those matters are directly connected. We facilitated that, and the two major parties in this country supported it - to the tune of well over 1 million troops going through Shannon to prosecute that horrific war. It should come as no surprise that the two main parties that pretend to be in opposition to one another are now also colluding in further abandoning our military neutrality as part of joining up to the evolving European army and the development and reinforcement of the European military industrial complex. It is shameful.

The process behind this was deeply cynical. The decision to sign off on this was made on 14 November and then confirmed at the Cabinet on 21 November. The Government knew, but the Chief Whip did not indicate to the Business Committee, despite several meetings taking place, that there was any intention to put this on the agenda for a vote, and then turned up this week, on Monday, stating, we were to have a vote on joining PESCO. The Business Committee orders the business of the Dáil and gives indications at least two weeks in advance of something happening. At neither of those meetings did the Government give any signal that this was coming up. Deputy Clare Daly raised the question of what was happening with PESCO and there was not a word from the Government about a vote. This was deliberate. The Government gambled that given all the focus on Brexit and the rush of legislation in the last couple of weeks, that this story would be buried and ignored by the media. It has largely succeeded in doing that.

It is shameful because this is the biggest move away from our military neutrality since the momentous and disastrous decision to facilitate the US military at Shannon during the Iraq war in the teeth of overwhelming public opposition, reflected in one of the biggest demonstrations that ever happened in the history of the State and clearly in opinion polls. Every opinion poll that has been taken on it shows that the people oppose that decision. This decision is the biggest departure from military neutrality since that decision.

The Government is now seeking to deceive us as to the real content of this motion. Let me read from the EU fact sheet on PESCO. It refers to, "enhanced coordination, increased investment in defence and cooperation in developing defence capabilities". It goes on, "The difference between PESCO and other forms of cooperation is the binding nature of the commitments undertaken by participating Member States". Deputy Lisa Chambers, who was looking for evidence, should read the fact sheet. The "binding nature" is the difference. It goes on to state, "It will be a driver for integration in the field of defence". What is a common defence, which is precluded in the Constitution? It states that this will be a driver for integration of a common defence.

The fact sheet goes on to state that there will be implementation plans that will be subject to regular assessment. The PESCO body in the European Union will tell us whether or not we are meeting the binding commitments to ramp up military expenditure and involve ourselves in the PESCO project. The fact sheet could not be more explicit, stating, "This is different from the voluntary approach that is currently the rule within the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy". It is not the voluntary approach, which the Minister claimed it was. It is not voluntary; it is binding. We are moving into a binding enhanced defence pact.

When one looks at what the major architects are saying about this, it is absolutely clear what they are talking about. One need only look at who the main players are. President Macron of France is talking about putting boots on the ground in Libya, as if they did not do enough damage there. One looks at the destruction of Libya as a result of French and western bombing of that country and the refugee disaster that has come from it. Now they are talking about further exacerbating that.

I will repeat the quote from the President of the European Council, Mr. Donald Tusk. He specifically referred to the objective of PESCO as "to protect the bloc from the effects of the migrant crisis, hostile bordering states and forces that risk tearing the bloc apart". It does not get more explicit and, frankly, disgusting than that. What does he mean by "protect ... from the effects of the migrant crisis"? It means a military machine to stop desperate people fleeing from Libya, Syria and other places in which the west was responsible for causing the initial chaos. Now we are going to ramp up military defence and be part of keeping those people out. What are the "hostile bordering states" for which we need this common defence policy and to increase military expenditure?

There is no doubt that this is an abandonment of our neutrality and a move into a common defence. I believe it is unconstitutional. It is counter to Article 29.4.9 of the Constitution and it should be challenged. We will have to seriously consider challenging it on constitutional grounds if the Government refuses to pull back from this shameful decision to abandon Ireland's military neutrality.

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