Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 April 2023
47. Deputy Marc MacSharry asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence if the Defence Forces has established a group to study the lessons of the Ukraine war and how it will impact Ireland's capabilities and force structure. [19818/23]
View answerThe Commission on the Defence Forces was established on foot of a commitment in the Programme for Government and the Government decision in December 2020 which also agreed its terms of reference and membership. The report was published on the 9th February 2022.
The Commission undertook a significant body of work, encompassing wide-ranging terms of reference. It recommended significant changes for the Defence Forces and Defence provision in Ireland. It covers high level Defence Forces structures, defence capabilities, organisation, culture and human resources, the Reserve Defence Force and funding.
In July last year Government approved a High-Level Action Plan in response to the Commission report. As part of this, approval was given for a move, over a six-year period, to a level of Defence Forces’ capability equivalent to ‘Level of Ambition 2’ (LOA2), as set out in the capability framework devised by the Commission, which will entail funding increases to reach a defence budget of c. €1.5 billion (at January 2022 prices) by 2028 through the annual Estimates process.
The report of the Commission on the Defence Forces and the current events in Ukraine are prompting an open debate and consideration of our defence requirements. There is an ongoing requirement to consider whether the capabilities we maintain are appropriate, having regard to the security environment, the roles that we wish the Defence Forces to undertake, and likely risks. For this reason one of the Early Actions arising out of High Level Action Plan for the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces was the commencement of the Strategic Defence Review. This review is the second in the cycle of reviews as proposed in the White Paper on Defence and follows the 2019 White Paper Update. These cycle of reviews are to give assurance that defence policy remains up to date and relevant to the changing circumstances and bring certainty and regularity to defence planning.
As set out in the White Paper these reviews will be based on an updated security assessment and a fresh consideration of the implications of this assessment for policy requirements, associated tasks, capability development and resourcing. The updated security assessment, which is the first stage of the review, is being conducted by an interdepartmental group and this work commenced recently.
