Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the report despite it being further evidence of the failure of successive Governments to address our country's defence needs. The immediate priority for the Government must be to address the exodus of personnel which is challenging the capacity of the Defence Forces to carry out their current responsibilities.

I visited the Curragh Camp last week and witnessed at first-hand the absolute state of the place. It has been allowed to decay so much that the soldiers who have been in Lebanon must be very at home when they come back. I do not know how anyone works there. A once vibrant barracks and community have been left to rot. It is because of gross mismanagement by successive Governments that it is in this state. It is disgraceful.

Speaking of mismanagement, I must raise again the dumping at the hollow next to Donnelly’s Hollow in the Curragh. Somebody from the Department of Defence thought it would be a great idea to carry out large-scale dumping in such an important area for the biodiversity of our county. It seems we will never know who made this decision because the system closed ranks to protect the wrongdoer. Where have we heard this before? The secret deal done in mediation must be exposed. Have we not moved on from this carry-on that used to happen regularly decades ago?

The old Curragh post office is left to decay into rack and ruin. The last hope for the future, the Curragh post-primary school, instead of being expanded is being moved out of the area to Kildare town. There is plenty of capacity in both areas and I urge the Government to reconsider this decision.

The report recommends the granting of approval for affiliation to ICTU and the Government must do this without delay. This would send an important message to Defence Forces personnel that there is a willingness to take the necessary steps to address the haemorrhaging of staff. Many Defence Forces personnel have a proud tradition of service but the Minister and I both know that pride cannot pay their bills.

It must also be categorically stated that the principle of Irish neutrality is central to any discussion surrounding the role of the Defence Forces and we must question the direction which the Government appears to be leading the Defence Forces, which is towards full participation in PESCO and an EU army. Any discussions around Ireland's security needs must take place with a clear understanding that we are and intend to remain a neutral country, and investment in our Defence Forces must be to allow us to remain militarily neutral - in fact, not just in name.

The report advocates a €2 billion annual increase in defence spending. Instead of spending it on defence, we could make huge progress with housing. With an extra €2 billion, we could deliver 12,000 real social homes, 4,000 affordable rental homes and 4,000 affordable purchase homes, and still have enough money to reduce rents by introducing a refundable tax credit, put one month’s rent back into renters’ pockets and introduce a ban on rent increases for three years. The reason I say this is that soldiers are citizens too and they need housing. We could improve our health service. An extra €2 billion could deliver 932 additional beds, including 248 specialist community beds across mental health, addiction recovery and palliative care. We would still have money left over to recruit more than 6,250 additional staff, including consultants, nurses, psychologists, occupational therapists and physios. We could reduce the cost of healthcare by expanding GP card eligibility for carers and children, cutting the cost of prescriptions and phasing out hospital parking and inpatient charges, and we would still have money left over to phase in free GP care.

The reason I am stating all of this is that the Minister and I both know politics is about choices. Yes, our Defence Forces need investment but this should be around ensuring it is a good place to work, ensuring that working conditions are sufficient for a modern defence force and ensuring it is fit for purpose. It should not be about bringing us up to PESCO level or NATO level. The first step must be to improve the basic pay of Defence Forces personnel, 20% of whom are on wages so low that they are in receipt of working family payment. By all means increase military spending to ensure the working conditions and equipment are fit for purpose, but not to involve ourselves in military action to which we should not be a party.

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