Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The issue on which I wanted to focus is PESCO. I will need to speak to the Minister, Deputy Coveney, because this deeply affects his work on disarmament. I have to correct the record in the context of the Minister of State's speech. He said PESCO is provided for in the Treaty on European Union which was approved by Irish people. Let us be very clear, the opportunity to opt in or out of PESCO is what is provided for in the treaty and that is what was voted for. It is important that we do not give some retrospective legitimacy to suggest people have approved that. I beg the Cathaoirleach's indulgence on this. I will be following up on the question of PESCO and we will have a debate on it, but let us be clear that it is not business as usual.One of the key areas is that of military procurement. What we now see is that there is going to be joint military procurement. The Minister of State refused to answer previously whether the triple lock would be used. We now know the triple lock will not be used, so there is a core question, which is how the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, assures the public that the military equipment we purchase will be used by other countries with different mandates and whether it will be used outside a UN mandate? Germany has NATO troops and is part of missions in Afghanistan and Austria has brought tanks to the border with Italy to use against migrants. Some European countries have a history of testing and using their military equipment against other countries outside UN mandate. There is a real question here.