Jack Wall
Question:37 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Defence the position regarding the implementation of the Price Waterhouse report on the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20439/99]
Priority Questions. - Defence Forces Review.
The Price Waterhouse report on the Defence Forces was submitted to the efficiency audit group in 1993. Arising from this report, the efficiency audit group made certain recommendations to the Government which were accepted in July 1995.
Following this, an implementation group was set up to prepare a fully costed implementation plan covering the first three year phase of the reorganisation of the Defence Forces.
In February 1996 the Government accepted the Defence Force Review Implementation Plan, 1996-98, which set out the objectives and targets for the initial phase of the Defence Forces reorganisation process.
I am very satisfied with the progress of the overall Defence Forces reorganisation process to date. Among the many objectives achieved, I will highlight the following: a reduction in the overall permanent Defence Forces strength by 1,300 to 11,500 and the allocation of 50 per cent of the resulting pay savings to infrastructure and equipment for the Defence Forces; the successful introduction of a new structure for Defence Forces headquarters; a comprehensive reorganisation of the Army; the introduction of a policy of continuous recruitment; and the completion of the studies of the Air Corps and Naval Service.
In addition, in July 1998 the Government approved a programme of evacuation and sale of six barracks considered surplus to military requirements. This decision was taken in accordance with the Price Waterhouse recommendations regarding the rationalisation of military installations. Five barracks were subsequently evacuated and one has since been sold. There are not any plans at present to close any barracks other than those announced last year. The steering group for the study of the reserve Defence Forces recently submitted its report to me, and I am considering its recommendations.
The momentum for reform of the Defence Forces will continue by means both of the implementation plans for the reorganisation of the Air Corps and Naval Service, which have been submitted to me recently, and the White Paper on Defence which will be completed later this year.
Regarding the initial phase, how much remains to be completed of the 1996-98 recommendations? Have the reserve Defence Forces made submissions to the Department or has there been contact between the two regarding the proposals for the reserve Defence Forces?
The consultative process for the review of the reserve Defence Forces has gone well. The report has been submitted and we are studying it. The steering group was representative, with people from RDFRA involved so that they had an opportunity not only to make submissions but to have one of their members involved in the activities. I look forward to finalising that review.
It is an interesting time because the implementation plans for the Navy and the Air Corps and the study of the Defence Forces are almost completed. While much still remains to be done, we have almost completed the review process. The Navy and Air Corps reviews were delayed for longer than we anticipated and we needed these to make a complete picture involving barracks closures, continuous recruitment, re-equipment, savings on pay, armoured personnel carriers and improvement in infrastructure. We are being given a design for the next millennium which is proactive, positive, improves equipment and accommodation and is good on recruitment by bringing in more young people so that we have a fitter organisation allowing us to do more United Nations duties. We are far from finalising the matter but we have all the reviews and plans to hand. We were hamstrung for some time by not having those but we are now in a positive phase.
Considering the Minister has all the reports to hand, when will the White Paper on Defence be published? How many submissions have been made on it to date?
The White Paper will be published before the end of the year. There were 45 submissions. There was a positive response, not just from the representative organisations and from people with a military background but from the wider public generally. A number sought oral hearings to advance the purpose of their earlier submissions and those were granted. One of those groups was obviously PDFORRA. We are now at the stage where we are ready to carry out the final work on the White Paper and have it published to meet the timescale I set out, which is a little longer than anticipated. However, the number of submissions and the requests for additional time to develop cases were also greater.