Page 17 - Signal Summer 2018

| SECURITY DEBATE |

Opinion: Defending Ireland’s Freedom

Doesn’t Come Cheap

Speech by Brian Hayes MEP on the case for investment in security to the
Irish Defence Forces Officers Club, Dublin, May 3rd 2018.

he first responsibility that
Tthis state has to its citizens
is to protect them. Security is
not some added extra, it’s a
fundamental function of any
democratic state.
We invest in security so
as to protect the people of
Ireland. We invest in our secu-
rity so as to protect our fun-
damental freedoms and our
rights as Irish and European
citizens.

At the very heart of this
State’s nearly 100-year long
history of democracy, is the
rational legal system of gov-
ernment. It works on the Brian Hayes MEP
basis that people pay their
taxes and abide by the law, on the proviso that the state commitment. New threats and new situations demand a
will protect and secure them. The rational legal system of policy re-examined for Europe and for Ireland too.
government is effectively embedded in the Constitution
as a simple agreement between the people and the The security this State provides to Irish citizens must
political system. People have every right to feel secure always be reviewed as new situations emerge. Ireland
and safe and the state has an obligation to provide for is no different to other small or medium sized EU mem-
that security. ber states. The possibility of a major incident happen-
ing in one of our cities cannot be dismissed. We have
I passionately believe in European values of freedom, to benchmark ourselves against similar sized member
tolerance, human rights, respect for diversity and respect states as to our expenditure on security and our prepar-
for the separation of powers. These are all under threat edness against threats.
- in various ways - from the rise of populism in Europe.
And it’s not just populists of the hard right or hard left, We need a serious debate about Ireland’s capabilities
one just needs to look in the direction of some EU mem- in the area of security and defence. And I make no apol-
ber States, most notably Poland and Hungary. Are they ogy in arguing for more resources and better condi-
vindicating common EU rights for their citizens as set out tions for our Defence Forces in making sure that
in the Treaties of the European Union? I don’t think so. they have the equipment, the resources, the career
paths and the operational capacity to do their job in
The threats of unmanaged migration, a disorderly defending this country.
Brexit or the looming challenge of a trade war with the
US make it impossible to predict the future security land- That is why my Fine Gael MEP colleagues and I
scape. When these geo-political threats are factored into recently published a policy paper entitled: “Ireland and
the debate, while understanding the day-to-day threats the EU defending our common European home.” We
of countering terrorism, cyber security or human traffick- have been really pleased to see the reaction to the docu-
ing, we have to be aware that paying for security and ment. People genuinely want to have a proper debate.
defence does not come cheap and requires a political For some reason, talking about Irish neutrality or security

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