Seanad debates

Wednesday, 13 December 2017

Permanent Structured Cooperation: Statements

 

10:30 am

Photo of Ivana BacikIvana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I apologise for being late but I was watching the debate on the monitor in my office with great interest. I welcome the opportunity to debate PESCO, the permanent structure co-operation arrangement. I commend my colleague, Senator Higgins, on pressing for this debate which is coming rather late, given that the Dáil voted last week by 75 votes to 42 in favour of Ireland joining PESCO. The Labour Party in the Dáil opposed that proposal along with other colleagues on the Opposition benches. Our party leader, Deputy Howlin, said that he could not see why there was such a rush to sign up to the proposals this side of Christmas. He pointed out that we could choose to postpone our signing up until after the event and that we must have a proper debate, with experts invited in and cross-examined. He also pointed out that if the defeat of the first Lisbon treaty referendum has taught us anything, it is that proper debate on such measures is needed. We need to be clearer about what is going on.

In his statement today, the Minister of State said that he regrets that he cannot yet be specific about what projects Ireland may participate in at this juncture. Therefore, it is very hard for us to be sure that participation in PESCO will, as he suggested, have no implications for our policy of military neutrality, for the triple lock or for the roles we play in peace building and support for international peace and security. Having looked at the documents on PESCO, I was, like Senator Higgins, struck by the absence of references to United Nations peacekeeping initiatives. It is worth taking a moment, as others have done, to recognise and pay tribute to the immensely important contribution that our Defence Forces have played in UN operations. Senator McFadden and others have spoken about the fact that we are all so proud of the work they have done overseas in peacekeeping for the United Nations. During the recent "Late Late Toy Show", one of the most moving moments involved a UN peacekeeper coming home, having spent some months away from his family and children in Mali. Undoubtedly, the Defence Forces play an immense role in peacekeeping. It is also undoubted that conditions for members of our Defence Forces must be improved and Senator Craughwell has been a powerful advocate in that regard.

I do not wish, in my contribution today, in any way to take away from the role of the Defence Forces but rather to pay tribute to them. I argue that their role in UN peacekeeping is entirely compatible with a speech opposing PESCO. I also echo the words of my colleague, Deputy Brendan Ryan, in the Dáil who pointed out that joining PESCO could fundamentally alter Ireland's sovereign defence policy and history of neutrality for decades to come. He also argued that it is too important a matter to rush through a vote, as the Government was attempting to do against a false deadline. I reiterate those points and also point out, on the basis of reading the document on PESCO, that there is much in it that is of great concern to those of us who wish to see Ireland's proud history of neutrality and participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations strengthened and who do not wish to see any undermining of our neutrality.

If one looks at the documents on PESCO, one sees it described as an "ambitious, binding and inclusive European legal framework" for investments in security and defence. Its aim is to enhance the defence capabilities of EU member states. Annex I on the principles of PESCO points out that it will also benefit NATO, which is a matter of real concern to a neutral state such Ireland that is in no way allied to NATO. The enhanced defence capabilities of EU member states within PESCO will, we are told, "strengthen the European pillar within the alliance", that is, within NATO, and respond to repeated demands for stronger transatlantic burden sharing. I am reading, by the way, from the Notification on PESCO to the Council and to the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security. That text will set alarm bells ringing for anyone who is concerned about where the Irish Defence Forces might be sent in any PESCO aligned operation and how PESCO will work alongside those EU states that are also members of NATO.

I am also concerned that in the same document, in Annex II, there is a list of ambitious and more binding common commitments in the five areas set out by Article 2 of Protocol No. 10. Participating member states must subscribe to specific commitments, including regularly increasing defence budgets in real terms to reach agreed objectives. There is a real concern that we would be required to expend resources on particular items of defence expenditure as part of the PESCO programme. People have very valid concerns about PESCO for many reasons. There is a concern about a drip, drip undermining of our neutrality through our signing up to documents such as this. I do not think it is scaremongering or falsely alarmist to say that we need more time to debate this and to consider the possible implications of membership of PESCO for Ireland to make sure that we are not, in some way, undermining our very proud tradition of neutrality.

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