Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State might tell us what happens if CARD makes a recommendation on increasing defence expenditure in this or that area in this State and the State, Government or this House does not accept it. Could the Minister of State please clarify the position?

What is agreed in these proposals is European Defence Fund expenditure of €13 billion over seven years. That is not a doubling, trebling or quadrupling; it is a 22-times increase in European defence spending. It requires Ireland to increase expenditure from 0.5% to 2% under the PESCO proposals, in other words from €905 million to €3.62 billion. We have a homelessness and housing emergency. How many houses would the money build? How many child care workers would it provide? If a house costs €150,000 to build, which is probably the absolute minimum, the money would build 24,000 homes. Does the Minister of State believe that what is being done represents the best allocation of resources available to the State?

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