Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I endorse the remarks made by Senator Clonan and I support and second the moving of this motion. The question of Ireland's neutrality is an important one and we cannot hide behind weakness in protecting our neutrality and upholding the authority of the State any longer. The Minister has come forward with proposals to strengthen the funding of the Defence Forces over the next five years and that is all very well.

The simple fact is we should acknowledge that the Air Corps is wholly under strength in its equipment and manpower and capacity. A big mistake was made, as has been pointed out, in search and rescue. That duty should have been given to the Defence Forces to carry out. It is important that the Defence Forces should have the helicopters, training and personnel to do that work as well. That is a mistake. We need to have our Naval Service up to strength. It is sad to think that some of the ships we have invested in are effectively mothballed for want of personnel. The Army is under strength and it is difficult to recruit and retain soldiers. We will have to have at least 12,000 members of our Defence Forces properly equipped. I accept what Senator Clonan has said about the question of our neutrality; that we are depending on other people to defend our airspace. Our armed forces do not have any drones and they are not up to par in what they are required to do now.

Senator Clonan mentioned things that may happen in the future in Northern Ireland. We see the recrudescence of, not merely loyalists but also so called republican, threats of violence. Our Defence Forces stand between the Irish State and that threat. We cannot ask them and we cannot presume on their capacity to deal with these matters if we underfund them. On Friday I will speak at an event in Glasnevin to commemorate the dead of our National Army in the Civil War who have never been properly commemorated. Apart from commemorating the dead I want to do something to support the present members of our Defence Forces, who deserve better. They deserve to live up to their functional purpose, which is to be able to defend this country and to uphold the authority of the Irish State.