Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 24 November 2022
35. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Defence if consideration is being given to a review of the structure of the Army as recommended in the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58383/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Commission on the Defence Forces was established on foot of a commitment in the Programme for Government, and I, as Minister for Defence, welcomed the publication of the report of the Commission on 9th February last. 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.
On the 12th of July this year I brought to Government a High Level Action Plan and a Memo for Government both of which were approved. As part of this, Government approved 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.
Implementation structures have been put in place encompassing an Implementation Oversight Group, a High-Level Steering Board and an Implementation Management Office (IMO) to support the implementation of the overall transformation programme required to implement recommendations from the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces.
The High Level Action Plan also sets out all the recommendations contained within the report and designates a response of Accept, Accept in Principal, Further Evaluation or Revert. One of the early actions identified is a review of the structure of the Army, on foot of this the Military Authorities are progressing the establishment of an office of Army Force Design which will undertake the work required to give effect to this recommendation.
