Ireland is not proposing to join military alliances but should not fear co-operation with Europe on the exchange of information or common procurement of defence equipment, Tánaiste Simon Harris has said.
Speaking at an event on budgetary policy at the Economic and Social Research Institute on Monday, he said maritime security was a domestic issue but also a duty at European level given the importance of what is under water.
The Tánaiste indicated he would support Ireland seeking loans under the EU’s programme for defence investments – known as Safe – if it meant such purchases could be accelerated.
“Ireland also faces significant new defence and security challenges, and we must be ready to respond.”
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The Minister also said he believed that “Irish people get the need to spend more on defence and security. As the Government of Ireland, we have the responsibility to protect our citizens and our institutions, to ensure our waters are not being used for illegal activity, or by rogue States, and to ensure that the critical infrastructure on which hundreds of thousands of Irish livelihoods depend is protected.
“That is why we will continue to invest in the people, equipment and capabilities of our Defence Forces. Moreover, the medium-term plan and the wider EU fiscal rules allow for further flexibility in this area, if needed.”
The Tánaiste said Ireland had increased its defence spending significantly already – although from a low base.
“At a European level, we are open to working with colleagues on certain areas already, so we’ve opted in, for example, to an information exchange system,” he said.
“We have opted in to the common procurement part of Safe, where we can now commonly procure things with [other] European members. We have yet to adopt a loan facility under Safe, largely because of the budgetary position we were in. But is there an argument for perhaps doing that? There may well be if we could further accelerate [procurement].”
The Irish Times previously reported that rations provided to young military officers studying at university in Galway were to be cut. It came under moves to generate savings of €12 million as part of a Cabinet agreement to produce overall efficiency measures worth more than €400 million across Government to offset overspending in education.
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Key defence investments in naval radar systems and new helicopters are also understood to have been delayed due to overall spending pressures.
The Tánaiste said the Government would pass legislation to end what is known as the “triple lock” under which the State can only send troops overseas if the move is backed by Cabinet, the Oireachtas and the United Nations Security Council.
“Reforming the triple lock will not alter our military neutrality, nor will it see Ireland join any military alliance. Decisions on the deployment of our Defence Forces will remain with the Irish government and Dáil Éireann, acting in accordance with the UN charter and international law,” he said.
“But we do not accept that any foreign power should have a veto over Ireland’s sovereign decision to contribute to peace.”
