Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Like Senator Malcolm Byrne, I want to identify myself completely with the remarks made by Senator Mullen about higher education. I was present for the speech to which he referred. It is an alarming situation.

Today, I raise a topic that will be of interest to the Leader, namely that of the Defence Forces. I congratulate the Ranger wing of the Army and Air Corps for their operation off the Cork coast yesterday in bringing what appears to be a huge consignment of drugs into Cork harbour, along with arrests. As the boats came into Cork harbour they passed the naval station at Haulbowline. We have eight naval ships. Only two are operational. We have now 750 active members of the Naval Service. At the time the Defence Forces commission made its report, that stood at 867. The Leader and I are former reservists. We know the Reserve aspect of the Defence Forces has collapsed. Manning ships has become almost impossible. Ireland is an open goal for those who want to violate our territorial waters due to the failure of this Government to take the Defence Forces seriously.

It is the duty of the Government to uphold the Defence Forces. They are a constitutional force. They cannot be the also-rans in every budgetary debate. If we are serious about our neutrality and about any of the issues that fill our newspapers, we must take our Defence Forces seriously. The time has come for action, not words. You can send a ship to the Mediterranean to pick up asylum seekers but it cannot defend our own coastal waters adequately and that is a disgrace.