John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We have two fundamental issues to discuss today, namely, the service of the Irish Defence Forces with the UN for 2020 and 2021 and approval of Ireland's participation in four projects involving PESCO. On the face of it, these are two separate issues. In reality, however, participation in one will impact on Ireland's participation in the other. This may colour the future perspective adopted by the smaller military non-aligned nations that invested their support and confidence in Ireland as a military neutral country by voting Ireland on to the UN Security Council.

Ireland has a proud history of uninterrupted service in the UN dating back to 1958. Since then, the blue beret and tricolour shoulder flash have offered succour, safety and assistance to beleaguered people in conflict zones across the globe, including in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. In pursuit of the noble cause of peace, many Irish troops have made the ultimate sacrifice. I want to remember that sacrifice here today. The Irish Defence Forces serving within the UN possess an identity that is synonymous with dignity, integrity and, above all, impartiality. It is this hard-won identity of an impartial military force acting as an advocate for peace and justice that I fear participation in PESCO threatens to erode.

I know the Minister wishes to present PESCO in some benign manner. This is to allow Ireland to develop the capacity to participate in humanitarian missions alongside other EU nations. That is the Minister's view. Notwithstanding the current rate of turnover within the Defence Forces, a critical number of experienced troops who were trained at this time would in all likelihood have rotated out of the Defence Forces before they could be called upon to exercise the benefits of the training they received. The Minister's view appears to be at odds, to say the least, with the views of key EU representatives both past and present. Indeed, Ms Federica Mogherini, the former High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, claimed with regard to PESCO that we are building an EU defence union. It is not a plan or a dream anymore; it is reality coming true. Mr. Josep Borrell, her successor, stated categorically that the EU needs to develop a military force to give it military strength.

Whatever claims the Minister makes to the contrary, and however much he seeks to project the image of PESCO as an enlightenment attempt by the EU to act as a humanitarian force for good, he is fundamentally wrong. PESCO is not an altruistic attempt by the EU to develop a humanitarian force for the global good. The mandate of PESCO, as outlined in the Lisbon treaty, includes the requirement for participating states to make members of their Defence Forces available to be deployed as part of PESCO missions.

I wish to put on the record Sinn Féin's commitment to resourcing the Defence Forces. We are committed to a policy of Irish military neutrality. That is not policy of isolationism; it involves embedding our military neutrality within a larger strategic policy of active neutrality on the international stage. The record of our NGOs in delivering humanitarian aid projects, the extensive global range of our diplomatic service and the sterling record of our Defence Forces on peacekeeping and peacebuilding operations can combine to achieve a significant level of soft power for an island of our size.

Irish neutrality should be enshrined in the Irish Constitution because Sinn Féin believes that our Defence Forces - the men and women charged with protecting the security of this State - need to be properly resourced to carry out their role. Arguably, at this moment, the biggest threat to our security does not come from an external factor but from the internal erosion of the strength of our Defence Forces through the loss of key personnel.

The Minister is on record as stating that the establishment figure for the Defence Forces needs to be expanded by 2,000 personnel in order for them to carry out their functions, which means that the Defence Forces are operating at over 3,000 personnel below the establishment figure. While we have NATO overseeing artillery exercises in Cork, we have situations where our Defence Forces lack sufficient numbers of qualified trainers to oversee basic live firing exercises. The number one security priority has to be to address the staffing problems in the Defence Forces.

The representative associations were recently granted the right to associate membership of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, an issue the Minister and I have battled over on many occasions in this House. Despite the Minister's concerns about the issue, he conceded to it and the sky has not fallen in. There are other outstanding issues that continue to plague recruitment and retention in the Defence Forces, including the working time directive and issues with pay and allowances. Addressing the issues of morale, culture and conditions in the Defence Forces has to be a priority, not the erosion of our neutrality in pursuit of the illusion that we are going to be some type of international military player in a European army of the future.

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