Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 July 2023
213. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence to outline the plans of his Department to rebuild and equip the Defence Forces so they are in the proper position to patrol our territorial waters effectively and defend our neutrality; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35221/23]
Amharc ar fhreagra215. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence whether his Department is satisfied that the Defence Forces are currently staffed and equipped to a sufficient level in order to fulfil their various functions - military, surveillance, peacekeeping and civil; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35229/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 213 and 215 together.
The White Paper on Defence, approved by Government in July 2015, resulted from a comprehensive examination of Defence requirements. It provides the defence policy framework for the period up to 2025. This policy framework is designed to be flexible and responsive given the dynamic nature of the security environment and enables the Department, and the Defence Forces, to be adaptive to changing circumstances and to use resources as efficiently as possible.
Within this context, the White Paper contains the Government's decision to put in place a fixed cycle of defence reviews. 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 are 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 first such review, the White Paper Update, was completed in 2019.
The second of these reviews, the Strategic Defence Review stage, was due to commence in 2021. With the establishment of the independent Commission on the Defence Forces by Government in December 2020, a decision was taken to pause commencing the Strategic Defence Review until the Commission on the Defence Forces had completed their report and Government had been given time to consider the report which 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, the largest increase in Defence Funding in the history of the state. This will allow for the required substantial transformation and investment in recruitment and equipment that were identified by the Commission. The Budget for 2023 included an increase of €67m over the 2022 budget for Defence. This demonstrates the Government’s strong commitment to support the transformation of the Defence Forces into a modern, agile military force. A key early action, and key output from the opening phase of the Transformation Programme, the development of a detailed implementation plan, is at an advanced stage and is expected to be published in the coming weeks.
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. As well as encompassing the Government’s agreed recommendations from the Commission on the Defence Forces, the future role of the Defence Forces both nationally and internationally will also be considered within the Strategic Defence Review. An updated security assessment, which is the first stage of the review, is currently being conducted by an interdepartmental group.
