Article 20 of Treaty on European Union Regarding Enhanced Co-operation: Motion Seanad Éireann — 2026-01-27 ============================================================ Alice-Mary Higgins (IND), National University of Ireland I am standing to give my very strong support to the amendment put forward by Sinn Féin. It is a very necessary amendment and one that is very carefully worded because it makes very clear the condemnation of the illegal invasion of Ukraine, the imperialist ambitions, as well as the breach of international law. It talks about the importance of ongoing support for the people of Ukraine. It is clear that our support is not done; it must continue. It also talks about what is appropriate in terms of that support; the huge need in terms of infrastructure, humanitarian needs and energy costs; the massive damage that has been done to Ukraine; and the support that is needed right across the spectrum of what it takes to have a functioning society and to rebuild a future functioning society. We should be in solidarity with that. The amendment identifies the real concern, which is the fact we are framing it as a loan. We should be very clear, particularly in the context in which it is coming, that it is more likely to be a direct payment in that there is a very conditional set of circumstances in which it may or may not be repaid. That is my main focus and it is important that we frame it as such. Some 60% of that is for military. That is the split. We are talking about 30% in infrastructure and everything and 60% in military aid. I want to push back. I have come from the foreign affairs committee. There is this narrative that Ireland needs to step up and do our share. Ireland should be incredibly proud of what we have done in the world and what we continue to do in terms of international law and our track record on global disarmament and working for peace across the globe. There is a culture that says we should be ashamed that we have not done more. Along with countries we heard named in the foreign affairs committee like South Africa, Costa Rica and New Zealand, we are one of the few countries in the world everyone in the world is looking to for consistency in international law. That is a place where Ireland can show leadership - which will strengthen Ukraine - and by leading in areas such as defence of the International Criminal Court, on which Europe has been painfully silent in not using the blocking mechanism. The International Criminal Court has issued warrants for Putin in relation to his crimes, and for Netanyahu and others. That is an example where Ireland could lead in Europe and help to move that forward. Ireland can lead in insisting on a European voice in peace talks and reminding people of principles such as Resolution 1325, which is that women and civilians have an important contribution to make in terms of peace, and insisting on that rather than bowing to a hegemonic and top-down narrative on peace we have seen sadly coming from the United States, and the many conversations Mr. Trump has had with Putin. Ireland can give leadership, and has, in the humanitarian area, in human rights and in the programmes that have been largely cut due to cuts in USAID funding and things like those processes under way at the moment to ensure that we document crimes taking place in order that there is documentation and the capacity to document and hold to future account crimes that may take place. There is so much we have to contribute. A lot of it is on our international credibility. Part of that international credibility is our status as a trusted, neutral country, which is not passive but active in the idea that we pursue the essence of the UN Charter in terms of the peaceful resolution of disputes that we have in our own constitutional commitment to international law, working for peaceful resolution and the work and record we have on disarmament and the idea that applied. We undermine that credibility when we join coalitions on military expenditure. This is not an EU-wide initiative. Most countries in the EU are engaging in a project that is 60% military expenditure. To be clear, when we say we do not know where it is going, if it is going on military expenditure you are talking about potential loss of life. A specific concern that should be right up there for Ireland is the global ban on cluster munitions, which Ireland helped to negotiate and succeeded in negotiating. A number of our colleague countries in the European Union, like Lithuania, have left the global ban on cluster munitions. Other countries are leaving the global ban on landmines. Ireland has agreed to bankroll €150 billion in loans to our fellow European countries. By the way, €16 billion of that is going to Hungary while we claim this is in our front line against Russian influence. The European Commission has been clear that money can go to cluster munitions. We know there have been horrendous reports of their use in Ukraine by Russia, but also, sadly, of Ukrainian use of cluster munitions. Will some of those billions be used on cluster munitions, weapons which, bear in mind, are landmines from the sky? They hugely and disproportionately impact civilian populations and children. Where is Ireland speaking up on those issues and saying we unfortunately cannot take part in that aspect and we have concerns? We hear nothing except for Ireland saying that countries under pressure are making their own choices. Actually, the idea of being a leading country on things like disarmament, and cluster munitions in particular, was to say there are certain weapons that are unacceptable for anybody to use ever. However, this money may well go there. There are no caveats and safety nets. It is inappropriate that we undermine by saying we are okay with this choice. Once we go down this road, how many other military decisions, and decisions relating to military expenditure and activity may slide through? We should be aware of this in terms of the attempt to take away the triple lock that is taking place and is being discussed today. How much more will there be when we move into a space where what is proposed is that maybe in a 70- or 60-minute debate in two Houses, we would potentially see the rubber stamping not just of decisions for military expenditure but for military action by Irish forces? That is what is on the menu with the triple lock. I say that in a context where I heard a colleague speak about the Board of Peace. It seemed to take our Taoiseach two days to be clear. He said it must be examined, and we must look at the UN Charter. It is clearly not in line and was clearly not in line at the point when those statements were being made with either the mandate from the Security Council or the UN Charter. We are looking at a "trust us" situation. We will go with who is asking us to join in whichever coalitions may occur, and simply trust them in a short debate going through two Houses without committee debate. We have not heard discussions on how this money is to be spent. We have not heard examination of issues like cluster munitions. Nobody here is opposing ongoing and far more robust support for Ukraine, including ongoing support for the Ukrainian civilians and citizens who are in Ireland, and those who are seeking humanitarian support. People are concerned about Ireland co-signing a cheque for military expenditure that undermines our ability to contribute to the international debate on peace that is needed and undermines our ability to be impactful when we need to. If Ireland wants to be strong and to step up, we have multiple opportunities to do so. I have mentioned the International Criminal Court and giving leadership on applying international law by delivering the occupied territories Bill. Let us also talk about the fact that Ireland is the main regulator for social media companies which have had a poor record in fostering division, seeking to create negative outcomes for Ukraine and pushing far-right and disruptive narratives right across the European Union, sometimes sponsored by Russia. Ireland is the key regulator there and we are not doing much. I am aware that is a separate day's debate, but I know we have been calling for Ireland to start acting on the recommender systems and algorithms and we have not done so. Instead, we are letting deregulation slip through the back door with the digital omnibus. Again, Ireland can give huge leadership. This is us undermining that leadership by tying ourselves into an unknown proposal and unknown activities, which will affect and erode our credibility. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-01-27/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:33+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-01-27