Neale Richmond
Ceist:376. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Defence the contributions by Ireland to PESCO since joining in 2017, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23305/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 15 September 2020
Ceisteanna (376)
Freagraí scríofa
Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) is a process under which groups of Member States can come together to develop capabilities in support of Common CSDP Operations. The objective of PESCO is to generate a coherent full spectrum of defence capabilities which will be available to Member States for national and multinational (EU, NATO, UN, etc.) missions and operations. This will enhance the EU’s capacity as an international security actor, contribute to the protection of EU citizens and maximise the effectiveness of defence spending by participating member States.
A table is provided below which details the PESCO Projects which Ireland participates in or is an observer.
To date no additional costs has been incurred through PESCO related activities other than costs associated with attendance by Defence Forces Subject Matter Experts at PESCO project planning meetings. The 'Upgrade of Maritime Surveillance' project which Ireland is a participant on is still evolving and the budgets and timeline for participant's involvement has not yet been fully determined. This may change as projects progress and capabilities are developed and acquired through the PESCO framework. However, it is expected that sharing the costs of capability development across a number of Member States should prove cost neutral in terms of overall projected defence expenditure.
PESCO Projects
|
Participant |
Observer |
|
1. Upgrade of Maritime Surveillance |
1. Deployable Military Disaster Relief Capability Package |
|
2. Centre of Excellence for EU Military Training Missions (to note this project terminated in February 2020 by agreement of all participants) |
2. Maritime (semi) Autonomous Systems for Mine Countermeasures |
|
|
3. Cyber Threats and Incident Response Information Sharing Platform |
|
|
4. European Secure Software defined Radio |
|
|
5. Military Mobility |
|
|
6. Energy Operational Function |
|
|
7. EU Radionavigation Solution |
|
|
8. Counter Unmanned Aerial System |
|
|
9. SOF Medical Training Centre |