Joe Conway (Independent)

The pages of history are replete with chronicles of nations and tribes who have, by fair means or foul, aggregated spheres of influence to themselves and bestrode the world like colossi, only to see it all fritter away like quicksilver years later.In this regard, we can look at the empires of the Assyrians, the Romans, the Mongols, the Ottomans and, of course, in terms of influence in our area over the last century, the British Empire. The waning of these behemoths of invasion and subjugation followed the usual and similar patterns of inspiring leadership driving expansionist campaigns, invasion spoils leading to further conquest, enrichment and ensuing corruption at home, followed by domestic division and eventual fragmentation.

Our own Continent of Europe has expanded empire-like in the eight decades since the Second World War, not in any land-grabbing way but in economic dominance. With the piecemeal breakdown of European integrity over the last 20 years or so, the conclusion is that the modern support and consent we have had in this Europe of ours are falling victim to a sort of sybaritic European negligence of the basic tenets of freedom and cohesion. This brings its own challenges. In this regard, Ireland has challenges thar an ghnáth.

It is a fact that the great majority - 75% - of this country's subsea communications go through the seas off our coasts. The cables carry commerce and investment every day to the tune of approximately €10 trillion. Since 75% of those cables are in or near our waters, we clearly have a duty to co-operate with others to police them and prevent them from being sabotaged and attacked. Such cables are vulnerable to crude physical rupture and disablement, even by weapons as seemingly innocuous as a dragged anchor engendering an outcome that would cause severe disruption and immeasurable damage. This is but one area where we are vulnerable beyond common comprehension. It is replicated on land, in the air, in space and in drone and laser technology. Of course, we see it played out every week in cybersecurity too. We spend 0.25% of GDP on defence. Compared to other small European countries, this is risibly small. Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Lithuania and Poland spend far more on defence. Even Finland, which has the lowest defence spending of those countries, spends ten times more per capita than we do.

While we have difficulty looking at the aggression now manifest in Europe, in the Baltic and Scandinavia, the dangers we experience here are just as great. Despite all that, we put to sea one serviceable vessel to cover the exclusive economic area off our coast of almost 500,000 sq. km. The quality of life and prosperity we have here cannot be guaranteed or guarded by that sort of investment. I would like to think we will get an explanation from the Minister of State of the Government's proposals to police not only our subsea cables, but all our vital interests. We have freedom and a way of life that it are worthwhile defending. Millions of Irishmen and Irishwomen have given their lives over the centuries for this and we should not be the generation to fritter it away. I look forward to what the Minister of State has to say about the plans.