Dáil debates

Wednesday, 7 December 2022

Pre-European Council Meeting: Statements

 

2:42 pm

Photo of Thomas ByrneThomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Okay. As the Taoiseach said less than an hour and a half ago, spending on defence and security is a national competence. Decisions on that are, in the first instance, for each member state to decide on. We decide on our military spending. Dáil Éireann decides on our military spending. Nobody in Brussels or NATO is telling us what to do with our military forces. We decide that in this Dáil. These conspiracy theories about some kind of militarisation happening in the EU need to be put to an end. It is our decision only in this Dáil. It is nobody else's decision. The EU has been a tremendous force for peace, social progress and economic prosperity in this country and throughout the EU. I reject the characterisations from Opposition Deputies of the left and the far left, or most of them, as being completely out of touch with the reality of the opportunities the EU has offered to us.

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