Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 July 2019
90. Deputy Marc MacSharry asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the status of capital projects in excess of €2 million within the remit of his Department; the amount spent on each project to date; and the anticipated completion date. [34199/19]
View answerUnder the National Development Plan, as part of Project Ireland 2040, the Defence Vote was allocated €541 million in capital funding for the period 2018 to 2022. This level of capital funding allows the Defence Organisation to undertake a programme of sustained equipment replacement and infrastructure development across the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service and demonstrates the Government’s commitment to ensuring that the Defence Forces have the capabilities necessary to deliver on all their assigned roles, both at home and overseas.
Table 1 below sets out the major equipment and infrastructural capital projects currently underway in my Department.
Table 1: Ongoing Capital Projects:
|
Project |
Tender Price |
Amount spent to date (VAT incl.) |
Anticipated Completion Date |
|
Armoured Personnel Carrier Mid-Life Upgrade and Maintenance Programme |
€68.0m |
€45.0m |
2022 |
|
Air Corps Fixed Wing Utility Aircraft Project |
€43.1m |
€16.0m |
2020 |
|
Naval Service Vessel Mid-life Refit (Phase 1) |
€4.0m |
€2.5m |
2020 |
|
Storage Facilities at Defence Forces Training Centre, Curragh Camp (Phases 1&2) |
€13.5m |
€13.1m |
2019 |
|
Virtual Desktop Architecture IT Project |
€12.8m |
€8.7m |
2021 |
|
Dining Hall Refurbishment at Custume Barracks, Athlone |
€4.2m |
€1.6m |
2019 |
|
Accommodation Upgrade at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel |
€3.3m |
€1.1m |
2019 |
|
Fuel Storage Safety System, Haulbowline, Cork |
€2.4m |
€2.4m |
2019 |
|
Development of training facilities at Stephens Barracks, Kilkenny |
€3.2m (tender process not completed) |
€56,000 |
2020 |
|
Development of training facilities at Sarsfield Barracks, Limerick |
€3m (tender process not completed) |
€67,000 |
2020 |
|
Accommodation Upgrade at Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin |
€2.4m (tender process not completed) |
€31,000 |
2020 |
|
Accommodation Upgrade at Curragh Camp, Co Kildare |
€2m (tender process not completed) |
€33,000 |
2020 |
In addition to these on-going projects, a number of other major capital expenditure projects have also been recently delivered, as outlined in Table 2 below.
Table 2: Completed Capital Projects:
|
Project |
Actual Cost of Project (VAT incl.) |
Project Ended |
|
Naval Service Vessel Replacement Programme |
€270.1m |
2018 |
|
Naval Service New Vessel Armament Project |
€17.5m |
2019 |
|
Armoured Logistics Vehicle Project |
€7.2m |
2018 |
|
Air Corps Aircraft Replacement Project (PC9) |
€6.3m |
2017 |
Under the National Development Plan and in line with the White Paper on Defence, a number of lower value capital projects are also being progressed. In addition, planning continues on further equipment renewal and replacement programmes including force protection, transport, communications and information technology, weapons and ammunition systems as well as on-going investment in modernisation and renewal of barrack infrastructure.
