Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Decisions on spending are and will always be a matter for the Dáil. Dáil votes will determine how Ireland spends its money on defence, as I stated to the Deputy a while ago. Deputy Barry and many like him with similar views on defence come into the House and give out about what we spend on equipment and defence matters. If something happened to people overseas, whether they were killed or badly injured, the Deputy would be the first person breaking in the door here, jumping up and down, as he did earlier, and doing a jig on the floor looking for an explanation as to why we were not spending and allocating resources. I have no issue whatsoever defending every penny we spend on our Defence Forces' members and equipment. It is like somebody coming in here today saying that in Operation Sophia we gave migrants over to the Libyan coastguard. The individual concerned had hardly got an explanation when he was gone. He said he got a reply to a question on it. It could not be further from the truth. His line and Deputy Barry's line suited their left-wing agenda. I want Deputy Barry to think about this. I will defend every penny spent on equipment for members of the Defence Forces because their safety is my priority.

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