Defence spending and neutrality
Deputy Murphy criticised the Defence Forces report as a push toward NATO alignment and €2 billion more annual military spending, arguing the money would be better spent elsewhere. The Tánaiste said the report was only noted by Government, not adopted, and outlined its different levels of ambition.
There is a real drive to increase military spending in Ireland that, in my opinion, is part of a push to completely abandon any notion of neutrality and to instead align with NATO and the permanent structured co-operation push for an EU army. All of that is clear from the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. It is pushing for up to an additional €2 billion in military spending annually. It thinks it is a bad thing that we spend significantly less than other EU countries on the military, whereas I think it is a good thing. For €2 billion a year, we could scrap all college fees, provide free school meals for every primary and secondary school student and still have enough left over to make all public transport free and to lift the basic pay of all Defence Forces staff, or we could spend it on warships and fighter jets. Even if we increased the military budget to €3 billion a year, what would that achieve? Britain spends 20 times that amount, as does Russia. It is about aligning with NATO. Is it welfare or warfare?
Comment on this
The Commission on the Defence Forces published its report yesterday. I have not had a chance to read it from cover to cover, but I have read the executive summary. The commission has produced a very valuable body of work and I encourage Members to give it proper consideration. It is a report that was noted by the Government. We have not adopted it or accepted its recommendations. It presents three scenarios or levels of ambition. Level of ambition one involves trying to do what we are doing now but to do it properly. Levels of ambition two and three are also set out in the report. The Deputy is referring to level of ambition three, which involves increasing defence spending to €3 billion a year. That is not Government policy. We have not made a decision to do that. What will now happen is that we will have a chance to consider and debate that report, at the joint committee and in this House, and decide on the best option for Ireland. To be clear, this is an excellent report but it presents three options. It does not state what the Deputy said it states.