Murphy criticises Harris for ramping up military spending

People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy has criticised plans by Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Simon Harris to double Ireland’s defence spending by 2026 and again by 2029.

Figures obtained by the Irish Times report that Harris wants Ireland to be spending €3.4 billion on defence spending by 2030.

Murphy said the news “demonstrates the perverse political priorities of Simon Harris and this government..”

“Simon Harris made his proposals to spend €3.4 billion on capital defence projects by 2030 while we have almost 16,000 people living in homeless accommodation, almost 5,000 of these desperate people are children.”

“It is also disturbing that this has been Simon Harris’ focus during the months when the parents of Harvey Sherratt Morrison were urgently seeking a meeting with him, a meeting that Harris had promised but failed to fulfill,” Murphy noted.

 “We need big increases in spending on housing, health care, special education, disability and rapid transition to renewable energy. Instead, this government is ramping up spending on military equipment that will never be used or would be rapidly destroyed in the highly unlikely event of an attack. The reality is that the increased military spending is part of the political establishment’s strategy to slowly but surely embed Ireland in the military capabilities and operations of NATO and the EU.”

“The upcoming presidential election provides an important opportunity for the public to reject the militarism of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. I urge all those who value our neutrality, and who oppose Ireland being dragged into Trump’s, Von der Leyen’s and Starmer’s wars, to help elect Catherine Connolly, someone who has been consistent in her opposition to the war mongering of the establishment parties,” the Dublin South-West TD said.