Paul McAuliffe
Question:90. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Defence the progress made by the Commission on the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46955/21]
View answerThursday, 30 September 2021
Questions (90, 106)
Brendan Smith
Question:106. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Defence when the Commission on the Defence Forces will report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47119/21]
View answerOral answers (7 contributions)
I welcome that following the commitment made in the programme for Government, the Minister has established within a short timeframe the Commission on the Defence Forces. When does he expect the commission to report? Hopefully, he will be able to give us a commitment that the recommendations put forward in the commission's report will be implemented by Government within a set timeframe.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 90 and 106 together.
The programme for Government committed to an independent commission to undertake a comprehensive review of the Defence Forces. This commission was subsequently established by the Government in December 2020, with a mandate to report within 12 months. The Government also approved the terms of reference, based on the programme for Government, and the membership of the commission. The commission’s overall approach will be guided and informed by the White Paper on Defence 2015 and the 2019 White Paper update.
The work of the commission will inform the future development of the Defence Forces and encompasses the following matters: the structure and size of the Defence Forces, including the consideration of appropriate capabilities, structures and staffing; leveraging the capabilities of the RDF in their supports to the Permanent Defence Force, and to make service in the RDF more attractive; governance and high level command and control structures in the Defence Forces; the evolution of remuneration systems and structures in the Defence Forces; and a strategic perspective on HR policies and associated strategies, recruitment, retention and career progression.
As part of a broad consultation process, the commission invited submissions from individuals and organisations on matters related to its terms of reference. The commission received more than 500 submissions, all of which have been published on their website, together with an initial report on the public consultation.
The commission has been established as an independent body and, while it is a matter entirely for the commission, I understand that the commission has met with a broad stakeholder group, including the Defence Forces representative associations, commissioned and enlisted members of the Defence Forces, senior officials and personnel from my Department and the Defence Forces, as well as other groups. Site visits to military locations by members of the commission have taken place at a number of barracks.
The chairman of the commission, Mr. Aidan O'Driscoll, also met with members of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence in April to discuss the ongoing work of the commission. The commission, in conjunction with the Institute of International and European Affairs hosted their second webinar, The Future of Defence: 2030 and Beyond, on Tuesday, 7 September 2021, which featured a range of international expert speakers.
The establishment of an independent commission on the future of the Defence Forces underpins the Government's commitment to ensuring that the Defence Forces are fit for purpose in meeting immediate requirements and in seeking to develop a longer term vision beyond 2030. The commission is to submit its report by the end of the year and it will be considered fully at that time by the Government.
I am glad the capacity of the RDF was included in the commission's remit because often over the years the very good work of that force has not been given the recognition that it should have. I raised this issue in the House on many occasions. During the previous Dáil, on many occasions in plenary session and at committees, we discussed the issues and the problems of retaining personnel in our Permanent Defence Force. I sincerely hope that pay and conditions will be adequately addressed along with retention policies.
Will the Minister indicate whether it is within the remit of the commission to examine the work of the Department of Defence vis-à-vis its relationship with the Defence Forces? I gather that at times this can be robust. Maybe it is a good thing that it is robust between the two of them, but I do not know whether that provides for the best working relationship.
I sincerely hope that if there are issues relating to the Department as it affects the workings of the Defence Forces on an ongoing basis, they would be considered in the context of the commission's work.
On the Deputy's last question, there is a governance and high-level command and control structure in the Defence Forces discussion within the remit. This involves, to a limited extent, the relationship of the Department of Defence. I am aware that the former Chief of Staff and the Secretary General of the Department had been working on an agreed approach towards that issue and have fed this into the commission's work, which I believe is understood by the chair of the commission. This work has been ongoing for quite a number of months.
In parallel, a review of the Department of Defence is taking place as part of a Civil Service review of Departments. It is appropriate that we are reviewing the functioning and running of the Department of Defence at the same time as an independent commission is looking at the future of the Defence Forces.
On the Reserve Defence Force, I am sure Members will be interested to know that we are progressing the defence legislation at the moment in the Seanad, which will remove the barrier to the RDF serving overseas. I hope that is a signal to the RDF that we very much value the work they do and that we want to expand their role rather than the opposite in the future.
I have one regret with regard to the composition of the membership of the commission. Before the commission was established, I argued in this House that it should include a person who had extensive experience in the Border region during that awful era when our Permanent Defence Force, gardaí and other emergency services had to deal with thugs, criminals, paramilitaries and murderers as they kept our State safe. A person with extensive experience as a senior officer in the Border region during that era should have been included in the commission. That valuable knowledge and experience of the Border would be particularly important.
I had the opportunity to visit some of the barracks and accommodation around the country. I recall a visit to the Curragh Camp some years ago. Some of the living accommodation for our young recruits was just awful and I know there is poor accommodation in some other barracks. I would like a commitment that accommodation will be modernised and brought up to proper standards. Today, most people who join the Army are thankfully coming from homes where there is good accommodation. Sadly, everybody is not but the vast majority of people live in good housing. When they enlist to serve our country, therefore, they should be living in modern, proper accommodation.
I again remind Members to please try to stick to the times. It is unfair on their colleagues.
We are investing in accommodation. In fact, we invested in accommodation in the Curragh Camp in recent years and I visited the upgraded accommodation in the past year or 18 months. We will continue to do that under the capital investment programme that is being rolled out.
I take the Deputy's point regarding the Border issues and ensuring there is knowledge of the challenges that come with the history of the Border in the context of the Defence Forces. We have a former Chief of Staff on the commission, and, of course, the chair of the commission was the Secretary General in the Department of Justice for a period when an awful lot of reform happened. There is, therefore, no shortage of experience on the commission, whether that is military, HR or broader management. It is large group of people - probably slightly larger than I would have liked - but we wanted to get all the skill sets on the commission. I am confident that they are more than qualified to make informed and ambitious recommendations, however.