Martin Ferris (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCeann Comhairle.

At the outset, I pay tribute to Margaretta D’Arcy, who was imprisoned for her opposition to the use of Shannon Airport to transport combat troops from the USA to the battlefield, and from the battlefield back to the USA. When Margaretta D'Arcy was in prison, to her credit, Sabine Higgins, the wife of President Higgins, visited her. I also wish to remember Sally O'Neill from Dungannon who was killed in a car accident in Guatemala. She highlighted the terrible injustice of the arms being used by a proxy junta in El Salvador and being supplied by the United States of America.

Much has been said tonight about America's involvement, along with France, Britain and others, in the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq and about Syria and Libya. Some 2 million people are dead as a consequence of the actions of these countries. The whole area has been destabilised and destroyed by these actions to effect the change they wanted for their imperial needs.

In 2017, the country signed up to PESCO. By joining PESCO the Government has committed to increasing military spending and linking a defence policy that will be aligned to NATO's strategic aims. It commits to funding military projects and missions, irrespective of involvement, and opens our defence budget to critique by the EU for compliance with military spending targets. In part, pressure has been put on the EU by NATO and the USA to increase military spending. In a vote in the European Parliament in December 2017, Fine Gael MEPs supported an EU motion on the CDSP, which called for 2% of member states' GDP to be spent on defence. That violates any concept of Ireland's neutrality. The fact MEPs voted on behalf of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and others who have supported that position means they have violated any concept of neutrality.

I also pay tribute to the tremendous work done by the Irish peacekeeping forces, which have been a beacon of light throughout the world for people who are most in need.

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