Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 March 2024
178. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence to provide an update on the plans to assign representatives of the Defence Forces to Irish embassies around the world; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11343/24]
View answerThe White Paper on Defence recognised the need for the Department of Defence to continue to engage in developing and deepening bilateral relations with potential like-minded partners to secure Ireland’s position in current and future international crisis management operations. The Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces further supported this view. A joint civilian/military project team was subsequently formed to examine options in this respect and a project was formally initiated in May 2023. This project has recently been completed.
This project aimed to explore the benefits to Ireland of establishing a Defence Attaché (DA) network, to look at the potential appropriate composition and duties of the role of a Defence Attaché, and to consider how such a network could build on existing bilateral relations.
The project also explored the potential for the deployment, as a pilot, of a DA in one of the Irish embassies of strategic value and importance to Defence and Foreign Policy goals, where strong engagement exists on defence matters.
While the the Project report has been completed, it has not yet been considered in full. Consultations continue to take place with a range of stakeholders in particular, the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Recommendations from this project will be considered, following conclusion of these discussions with the agreement of timelines and the project costs are assessed.
