Time to end neutrality hypocrisy
Not only is this policy two-faced policy, it flies in the face of UN efforts to end to the wars which claim the lives of tens of thousands of innocent people, and makes a mockery of Ireland’s much vaunted status of neutrality.
It is unacceptable that because of Ireland’s lax laws, companies can set up here, avail of the nation’s industrial support systems, and engage in the manufacture of products, including computer software programmes, which are then used on the battle field.
Officially, the Government admits to granting €35 million in military export licenses for 2006, but ‘‘dual use’’ technology, which can go into either civilian or weapons products, probably topped €2.4 billion in foreign sales.
According to Amnesty International and The Green Party, at least €1 billion of these products end up being used in the global armaments business. They attribute this to the ‘‘toothless’’ checking procedures of the Enterprise Department.
Doubtless, the growing level of opposition to this kind of business will be dismissed in some quarters as the bleeding heart syndrome. But it is not the first time such charges have been levelled at the administration. The facts speak for themselves.
The range of these exports covers products like missile guidance systems for tanks and fighter planes as well as computer simulators for French and US nuclear weapons programmes. Trade figures show that since the Coalition came to power the value of military exports has topped €335 million while over €2 billion worth of dual purpose products are now made in Ireland.
Critics accuse the Government of foot-dragging when it comes to tackling the on-going involvement with the armaments industry. According to Green finance spokesman Dan Boyle, Coalition ministers appear happy for the current “secretive” situation to continue. Meanwhile, Amnesty’s arms trade expert Jim Loughran describes as ‘‘worthless’’ the Government’s ‘‘end of use’’ certificate scheme for checking dual use exports.
The hypocrisy of Ireland’s position has been condemned in these columns ever since Forfas first identified loopholes in the Irish regulatory regime which could be used by rogue companies to deliver military equipment into the wrong hands. Indeed, the semi-State body warned that arms brokers could be attracted to the Republic because, unlike Britain, Ireland had not yet moved to clamp down on those facilitating arms deals.
It is high time the Coalition honoured its pledge to introduce a tough new arms control regime.
New legislation in the pipeline will include, for the first time, provision for the regulation of arms-brokering activities in Ireland and by Irish citizens abroad. Penalties for breaches of export controls are also to be increased, while departmental officers will be given the statutory power to inspect and audit companies that export military goods.
According to junior Trade Minister Michael Ahern, the Government is committed to bringing Ireland into line with best international practice. However, the promised legislation designed to close off the ‘‘dual’’ loophole is unlikely to be enacted before this summer’s election as it could impact on jobs.
Policies which allow Irish-based companies to export arms-related products for use in theatres of war are utterly cynical. That it is still going on under the umbrella of what remains of Ireland’s tattered neutrality is unconscionable.
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