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

Battle groups are about creating a common military culture as a step towards the creation of a European army. Various governments, including ours, seem to be willing to send troops into deadly and dangerous missions because they have just sent troops to Mali. Some of those supporting this battle group opposed that deployment to Mali - not Fianna Fáil, of course - but we are clearly being pushed down a slippery slope by the Government towards involvement in an EU army.

Why does the Government not pay our soldiers instead? Why will it not show us what is in the Public Service Pay Commission report instead of wasting money on this stuff and putting our troops in danger or involvement in a European military project? Why not pay the soldiers? Why not show us what is in the report? Why not pay the rangers who have just been sent to Mali the arbitration award that was granted in 2010, which the Government is refusing to pay? The Government does not respect, and will not pay, our soldiers, many of whom live in poverty, but the Government is quite happy to breach Ireland's neutrality, get them involved in an EU army and send them into dangerous missions in which we should not be involved such as those in Mali.

See this speech in context