Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies Duncan Smith and Eoghan Murphy for bringing forward the proposal to have this matter debated today and to mark this anniversary. It is important and worth doing. We should be very proud of Ireland's role and the principled stand it has taken over generations against nuclear weapons. Mr. Frank Aiken, Ireland's delegate to the UN in the 1950s, played a crucial role in the formation of the original Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and its subsequent signing and ratification. More recently, as other Deputies have noted, Ireland has been part of a core group of states that has played a leading role in bringing forward negotiations for the 2017 treaty and ensuring their ultimate success.

There are still approximately 14,000 nuclear weapons in the world. These weapons have the potential to destroy the planet and its population many times over. The retention of nuclear weapons and the threat of an arms race are drivers of insecurity and risk. They do not make us more secure, but drive arms races and insecurity. The UK intends to spend £703 billion in the next 20 years on nuclear weapons. At the same time, it recently announced it will cut its commitments in overseas development assistance. We also see how these funds could be spent much better in the UK through investment in the people there, for example, investing in eradicating child poverty, removing the need for food banks and so forth.

Money invested in nuclear weapons is a waste. Money invested in militarisation in general is not the way to go and while we should be proud of Ireland's role in promoting nuclear non-proliferation and a nuclear-free world, that is not enough. We should be opposed to increased militarisation in all its forms and, indeed, we should oppose Ireland's role in facilitating increased militarisation around the world. Since 2003, there have been approximately 3.5 million troop movements through Shannon Airport, in particular, including torture-related flights. These have occurred as part of the unending so-called war on terror. Long after these troops land in their destinations, the wars break out and the media lose interest, we see the pain, suffering, death and destruction that continue. We saw that in Iraq, in particular. For many years after the US troops went through Shannon and the US declared the war over, there was increased militarisation and increased destruction, death and devastation. Ireland played a role in that by facilitating those troops through its airports. In addition to this human suffering, there is also untold environmental damage and damage to the climate through wars and militarisation.

I support this country's proud history in respect of nuclear non-proliferation. We should be very proud of that, but we should go much further and take a lead in standing against militarisation and against the facilitation of militarisation through our airports and airspace.

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