Gerard Craughwell (Independent)

The Minister of State is welcome to the House. In his opening comments, he addressed the uncertainty in the world we currently live in and the problems that exist on our eastern flank and in various other parts of the world. It is only right and proper that, as a member of the security and defence committee and a former member of the Irish Defence Forces, I concentrate my comments on matters relating to security and defence.

I welcome the allocation of €1.49 billion in the budget for Votes 35 and 36 for 2026. Taking inflation into account, however, what is the actual percentage increase from the 2025 budget? That is the figure that must be scrutinised, parsed and analysed. How many times must the proposed primary radar system, the new advanced combat radio suite, an upgraded armoured personnel carrier fleet and general service body armour personal protection kits be announced?

As far as I can recall, this is the 12th announcement of such upgrades for the Defence Forces. The Minister, Deputy Chambers, opened his introduction to the defence segment of the budget by stating that Ireland is committed to safeguarding our national security while contributing to international peace and security. That is a given for any developed democracy, but is Ireland committed to the sovereignty of the State? Sovereignty is defined in international politics and diplomatic parlance as being, inter alia, a state's ability to control and defend its borders on land, at sea and in the air. Using this internationally accepted metric, Ireland is an independent state. However, it is most certainly not a sovereign state within the internationally accepted meaning of the word.

Could Ireland, for example, repeat what happened in 2001, namely the foot and mouth problem in Northern Ireland? Could we seal the 399 km Border with Northern Ireland and the 281 recognised Border crossings in the economic interests of the State, as was brilliantly achieved by An Garda Síochána, the Defence Forces, the Department of agriculture officials and the customs service in 2001? Of course not. The State has hollowed out numerous Garda stations on or adjacent to the Border with Northern Ireland. The Defence Forces is a significantly diminished force and a shadow of what it was in 2001. Now, only two geographically dispersed barracks, Finner Camp in Donegal and Dundalk in County Louth, are in direct proximity to the Border. The answer to whether we could close the Border is a resounding "No". That is strike one against Ireland's sovereignty.

Can Ireland, with its Air Corps and Naval Service in operational capability life support, secure its air and sea border? Again, the answer is a resounding "No". Does the budget for 2026 credibly advance Ireland's journey to sovereignty? No, it does not. Regarding the ambition of the Commission on the Defence Forces to achieve a level of ambition 2 by 2028, the budget shows no credible sign of achieving that aim. A net strength increase of 400 Defence Forces personnel in 2026, as indicated by the Minister, Deputy Chambers, in his 2026 budget, is not credible when the target strength in 2028 will be 11,500 personnel, 4,000 more than the current effective strength of the Defence Forces of 7,500. An increase in net strength of 400 in 2026 for the Defence Forces is a substantial deficit in ambition.

Generic generalities best define the language of the Minister, Deputy Chambers, in his budget speech. It is telling that the defence allocation is in the very last segment of the Minister's speech, prior to his short concluding remarks. It is obvious that defence for this and previous governments over the decades is the hind tit and last in the queue for the budget.

All of this is happening when the world is in a state of security crisis, including the war on the eastern border of the European Union, the genocidal slaughter ongoing in Gaza and the airports and military airfields of some of our EU partners being paralysed by targeted drone swarming. This is an important point as we move towards the Presidency of the European Union in mid-2026. How would Ireland respond if Dublin, Cork, Shannon and Knock airports were drone swarmed simultaneously? What State force would respond? The only Defence Forces air defence regiment was disbanded in 2012.

In his speech, the Minister, Deputy Chambers, averted to the increase in the number of gardaí by 1,000 in 2026 and the Defence Forces by 420. Without changes to the post-2013 pension, which I have been harping on about for the past ten years, we are only fooling ourselves. There very well may be an increase in those wishing to join front-line services, but without experienced personnel to train them, they will very quickly hit bottlenecks. There will simply not be the instructors to train and mentor new recruits. Very quickly after training, the new recruits will be awakened to the paltry pension that awaits them on completion of their service and will exit the service early. There must be an urgent review of the pay structures in the Defence Forces. The pay was bottom-loaded some time ago to improve recruitment, but we must look at the pay structures that reward ambition as people move up the ranks. We must review the pay differentials reflecting the new responsibilities that one takes on.

The post-2013 pension scheme must be seen as the greatest incentive to leave front-line services, that is, the Garda, Defence Forces, the Prison Service and fire service. It is destroying these services, and for some unknown reason, the people who advise Ministers with respect to taxation and pension schemes fail to take this on board. They are seeing people voting with their feet and leaving such services, yet the Government will not take on board the fact the pension scheme that was introduced is not a one size fits all.It is not the Minister of State's fault, but that of the people who advise Ministers and reassure them that certain actions will result in certain savings to the State. There is no saving to the State if we cannot retain people who have been expertly trained at a massive cost to the State. While there are many good things in this budget, sadly, where defence and security are concerned, it is a failure.

I thank the Minister of State for his time and for being here.