Blood on Our Hands

national | anti-war / imperialism | opinion/analysis Sunday December 02, 2007 18:39 by Margaretta D'Arcy - Women in Media & Entertainment margaretta at iol dot ie

Our Cash Kills Kids

Government hypocrisy has allowed the National Pension Reserve Fund to invest € 500 million in companies that produce weapons of mass destruction.

PENSION FUNDS IN WEAPONS PUT MONEY BEFORE MORALS

The National Pension Reserve Fund (NPRF) has invested € 500 million in companies that produce weapons of mass destruction – notably nuclear weapons, missiles, and cluster bombs. The NRPF will finance pensions for schoolteachers, nurses, prison officers, gardaí and other public servants, after the year 2025. It will also help to fund any social welfare payments made after that date.

This despite the fact that the NRPF was a signatory of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment in 2006.

There is no ethical legislation in Ireland to prevent this kind of investment. Norway, on the other hand, has excluded any firms involved in nuclear weapons and cluster bombs from its similar fund.

Bertie Ahern promised to campaign for a complete ban on the use of cluster bombs. In the Programme for Government, the government said it would seek an immediate freeze on their use. Yet Ireland has nearly € 70 million worth of shares in seven of the world’s main cluster-bomb producing companies.

“DOSSIER OF SHAME.”
The top 10 arms-producing firms, with the value of Irish shares.

BOEING, USA. Aircraft, missiles, etc. € 18,871,586.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN, USA. Aircraft, missiles, etc. € 2,549,571.
LOCKHEED MARTIN, USA. Aircraft, missiles, cluster bombs, etc. € 17,124,321.
BAE SYSTEMS, UK. Aircraft, nuclear warheads, etc. € 14,543,571.
RAYTHEON, USA. Cluster bombs, missiles, etc. € 12,392,445.
GENERAL DYNAMICS, USA: Cluster bombs, etc. € 12,712,947.
FINMECCANA, Italy. Nuclear warheads, etc. € 9,680,018.
EADS, Netherlands. Aircraft, cluster bombs, nuclear warheads. € 19,488,139.
1-3 COMMUNICATIONS, USA. Cluster bombs, etc. € 692,916.
THALES, France. Cluster bombs, etc. € 6,636,170.

(Info from 'The Star,' 27 - 28 Nov 07)

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

Get Questions asked in the Dáil, with a view to a Bill to implement the UN Principles of Responsible Investment at a national level and to exclude (on the Norwegian model) any firms involved in nuclear weapons, cluster bombs, etc., etc.