Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

The President of the European Commission, Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker, said on 10 November 2016, "We have to do this ourselves, which is why we need a new approach to building a European security union with the end goal of establishing a European army." That is his stated aim. He is in favour of having a European army. PESCO represents a major step towards achieving that goal and, scandalously, the Government has tried and is still trying under the cover of darkness to have Ireland participate in such a European army, making even more of a mockery of our supposed neutrality, considering the use of Shannon Airport. The Government came back to state there was nothing to worry about, that it was about cyber security, that the arms industry would not want this arrangement, that it was not about having a European army and that there was no requirement to spend more money. The Government and the public should read in black and white the Notification on Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) to the Council and to the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy which will include Ireland if the motion is passed. It states, "PESCO is an ambitious, binding and inclusive European legal framework for investments in the security and defence of the EU’s territory and its citizens". It continues, "A long term vision of PESCO could be to arrive at a coherent full spectrum force package". "Full-spectrum force package" means that it includes land, air and naval forces. It continues:

Based on the collective benchmarks identified in 2007, participating Member States subscribe to the following commitments:1. Regularly increasing defence budgets in real terms, in order to reach agreed objectives.

There it is in black and white, but the Government refuses to answer. It is not even as vague as it appears with the words "agreed objectives". In reality, the agreed objective and goal will involve the expenditure of 2% of GDP as outlined in NATO and as was outlined in a resolution of the European Parliament on PESCO. That will mean a massive expansion in so-called Irish defence spending. It will mean increasing it from approximately €900 million to €3.6 billion. That is what the Government is signing the country up to when it could do other things with that public money. It could instead build 24,000 houses to resolve the housing crisis, employ 116,000 child care workers, cover the expenditure necessary to begin to implement a national health service, provide for free education, repeal the FEMPI legislatin and provide for pay equality, etc. These are the choices the Government is choosing to make.

The point Deputy Martin Heydon made that the European defence industry did not want this arrangement because it goes against its interests is utter nonsense. The reality is that more money will be spent, which is what the defence industry wants. It will end up with the pedlars of death that have been lobbying extensively and doubled the amount spent on lobbying. The top ten companies in the arms industry increased spending from €2.8 million to €5.6 million in the last year. They have had 36 meetings with the European Commission in the past four years and the end result is that PESCO, together with the European defence fund, will be worth €5 billion a year.

In carrying out research for this debate I went to organisations such as Shannonwatch which plays an important role in monitoring the use of Shannon Airport by the US military. I also went to the Irish Anti-War Movement. People should check this on their phones and computers. If one tries to access either website inside Leinster House, one will be blocked on the grounds that they are advocacy organisations. One can log onto the websites of NATO, the US Government and the European Movement, but one cannot visit the websites of the Irish Anti-War Movement and Shannonwatch, which is bizarre. It is clear that there is tension within the European Union between different member states and that there is a drive among some to have greater independence from NATO in the context of the crisis caused by President Trump and the move towards having a European army. We should draw on the words of James Connolly and the statement, "We serve neither King nor Kaiser," and say "neither NATO nor a militarised European Union". Instead, we should have a socialist Ireland and a socialist Europe built on a policy of peace, solidarity and democracy.

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