FIANNA FAIL has accused the Government of a "hypocritical" approach to the international arms industry, and has called on the Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs to ensure that the responsible government Departments are "brought into line".
This follows the publication of a report yesterday by Action from Ireland (AFrI), the solidarity organisation which claimed that more than a dozen Irish companies have links with the arms trade and military industry.
Several of the companies named have rejected the findings.
The Fianna Fail TD and former European affairs minister, Mr Tom Kitt, is to raise the issue in the Dail today.
The Government's high profile position in campaigning against the international arms trade during the EU presidency has been "shattered", Mr Kitt said.
Mr Kitt called on the Tanaiste to ensure coherence within the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Enterprise and Employment. "No matter how tenuous the links to the arms trade, we have to be consistent on this issue," he said. The recent White Paper on Foreign Policy, which states that the State has no indigenous arms industry, has been "uncovered as a fraudulent document", he added.
A Department of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman said that Mr Spring, who is returning from Asia, had not seen the report. A considered response would be given when he had time to read it. The Department of Enterprise and Employment said it did not grant aid companies involved solely in producing military hardware. Once companies complied with international and domestic agreements, it was satisfied.
The Department of Tourism and Trade said that "end user" certificates, which state the final destination of an export, are required for all goods with a "dual use".
The Department would also request such certification from a government where there was some doubt about the use of a product. It could not comment on individual cases, however, a spokeswoman said.
AFrI named 14 Irish based companies which it claims are involved in manufacture and export of parts for weapons systems. Many are subsidised by the IDA, it said.
As reported yesterday, five of the 14 companies named in the three year research project confirmed the associations with the arms industry. However, one of the five, Assman Electronics of Ennis, Co Clare, told The Irish Times yesterday it did not supply any products to that sector.
"We make very simple connectors which are available anywhere in the electronics line. If used in military hardware, how can we stop that," a spokesman said.
"You might as well ask about selling potatoes to an army.
Mr Eanna Timoney, managing director of Adtec Teo/Timoney Holdings in Co Meath, said the report suggested it was doing something illegal. Most of its customers were civilian, he said.
"It's like selling meat to Libya, which may find its way into army hands," he said. Ireland's position on neutrality was inconsistent with international law, in that Ireland had no capability to defend itself, Mr Timoney added.
Welcoming the AFrI report, Comhlamh, the association for returned development workers, called on the Government to work at the EU Inter Governmental Conference to promote enforceable controls on European arms exports.
"Europe's arms export trade is one of the biggest in the world. Unscrupulous arms promotion is a major cause of instability in countries of the south, and our members have witnessed the terrible effects of this on people's lives in Africa, Asia and Latin America," Mr Robin Hanan, Comhlamh's co ordinator, said.
The East Timor Campaign called on the Government to set up an inquiry into the findings of the AFrI report, and said the report should be of concern to those committed to human rights.
The Green MEP, Ms Patricia McKenna, said the IDA had deceived taxpayers by supporting firms linked to the arms trade. The Labour MEP, Ms Bernie Malone, called for a code of conduct governing the sale of all components by Irish companies, for use, directly or indirectly, in arms production. She will raise the issue at the next Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs where MEPs have speaking rights.
