Address to Seanad Éireann by Members of the European Parliament
Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-18
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Gerard P. Craughwell (IND), Labour Panel

First and foremost, I congratulate all the MEPs who were returned to the European Parliament. I know I am a bit late in doing so. I am very proud of them.
I have a defence question for Billy Kelleher, MEP. Ireland has hidden behind neutrality, although we are not neutral. We are militarily non-aligned but we do not qualify as neutral under international law. We have hidden behind neutrality to stop investment in defence. We are about to take over the Presidency of the European Union and we are not equipped to provide the required security to look after Heads of State, ministers from other governments, etc. The Taoiseach has referred to people like me as creating negative noise around defence. Do the MEPs think it is negative noise when we are about to be embarrassed internationally by virtue of the fact that we cannot provide our own defence for such a prestigious role as the Presidency of the EU? After all, the MEPs must live with their European Parliament colleagues in Europe, who I have no doubt are talking about this.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:39+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-18