2026-02-17

140. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Defence her views on the revised defence plan deadlines in the detailed implementation plan for the transformation of the Defence Forces that have been pushed out again by Government, which will result in major defence projects such as the anti-drone CUAS system being delayed again; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12541/26]

I offer apologies from Deputy Ó Laoghaire. He is out with some bugs and has asked me to take his questions. Regarding the revised defence plan deadlines and so-called detailed implementation plan, it is extremely disappointing that dozens of defence spending deadlines have been significantly extended without any apparent explanation. It is embarrassing to say the least, considering that the Government announced a €1.7 billion defence spending plan only last December to much fanfare. Can the Minister explain the root cause of all these delays and how many deadlines have been extended for as long as two to three years?

I welcome the opportunity to outline and discuss the recently published detailed implementation plan of the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces and the new strategic framework I launched and brought to Cabinet last week. The plans set out the ambitious timelines I intend to set over the next year to make sure we can expand, enhance and grow our overall Defence Forces capabilities. Of course, as is the case with any plan, it has to be matched by a capital budget. Deputies will be aware that just before Christmas I published our new capital plan, which sets out how we are going to spend €1.7 billion in capital funding on our Defence Forces. This is a 55% increase on the previous capital plan. With regard to current spending, the Defence Vote increased by €338 million, which is 40% higher than 2022, from €836 million to €1.174 billion. Such an increase means that it stands to reason that the implementation and actions we need to take will be amended, adjusted and changed over the time ahead. This is the second detailed implementation plan. Regarding the first implementation plan, 54 of the 130 recommendations from the commission have been successfully completed. The commission recommended significant changes for the Defence Forces and defence provision in Ireland, which resulted in the approval by Government of a move to a level of ambition, LOA, 2 by 2028, as set out in the framework devised by the commission. We all know that our security landscape and environment has changed. We can see there are more conflicts happening across the world than there have been since the Second World War. Of course, front and centre is the war in Ukraine and an invasion by Russia that has been ongoing for four years. It is not just impacting hundreds of thousands of citizens and civilians in Ukraine but us as well. The new plan, actions and expansion we are focused on will respond to these emerging and changing threats.

The most serious issue in our Defence Forces over the past 20 years has been the decline in personnel numbers and the brain drain of highly trained specialist personnel. The core of this issue are pay, conditions and career progression. Of the 43 delayed projects, 12 are in the area of human resources and career development, while another two are to do with pay and conditions. How can we ever expect to truly solve our recruitment and retention problem if we do not address the elephant in the room, that being, we have almost destroyed a life in the Defence Forces as a viable career? Poor pay, poor conditions, poor pensions, and overtime policies in breach of the European Social Charter. When will the Government commit to getting these deadlines back on track and repair some of the damage done to the Defence Forces?

The new strategic infrastructure plan and the new strategic framework clearly set out how we can be more ambitious when it comes to increasing our overall Defence Forces numbers. Our numbers increased by 200 last year. I appreciate that this is a smaller number than we would like, but I am determined that we will continue on that trajectory right across our Defence Forces. To that effect, I am working closely with the Defence Forces to make sure we have a new workforce plan in place, but also that we have a new civilianisation plan, which I will have by the summer. It is important that we have both of these because if we want to increase our Defence Forces numbers to the level that we want to get to, it is not just about increasing the number of our Defence Forces personnel in the way we have before. We need to look at greater civilianisation and greater ways in which people can come into the Defence Forces having come from the private sector bringing different types of experience, particularly at a time when the types of threats that are changing require us to focus more on cybersecurity and cyber threats. We have to make sure we have that level of expertise where we have not perhaps seen it in the past. There are a lot of different strands of work under way to help us get to that overall target and to help us achieve those increased numbers. We have already started to see progress happen because a lot of work has been done, but I want to make sure that we can drive that progress and get to those levels as quickly as possible.

Many would say that we are going backwards rather than forwards. The Government put a plan forward but many would say that it reneged on that, particularly around pay and the poor conditions. The Defence Forces' lack of anti-drone capability has quickly become an embarrassment to Ireland on the European stage. We had to go cap in hand to our neighbours and ask them for a dig out. Anti-drone systems were meant to have been delivered last autumn. Now, we are being told that they may not arrive until after the EU Presidency is over and the most pressing need for them over the last 12 months has passed. It is not just another missed deadline. It is a laundry list of missed and failed deadlines that sums up the Government's defence policy. Is the Government just saving the systems from wear and tear? When will the Government deliver a counter-unmanned aerial system, C-UAS? We need to secure sensitive areas. Why has it taken so long? I have asked a number of questions. My apologies.

I am the first to say that we need to be more ambitious, but that is not to suggest that nothing has been done. In terms of human resources, recruitment and retention, we have increased the maximum ages for recruitment and retirement. We have extended the private secondary healthcare to all personnel. We have applied the working time directive across the Defence Forces, subject to certain exemptions. We have increases in the patrol duty allowances that are payable to Naval Service personnel at sea. We have extended the Naval Service tax credit. We have seen increases in pay over the years. As part of the strategic framework, we also have a clear focus on how we can support people in the Defence Forces to increase in number and be promoted throughout their careers, and on how we can do more for women in particular. There is a lot that has been done and, to use the phrase we all know, there is a lot more to do. I have been very clear when it comes to our radar capabilities. We will have counter-drone technology by the Presidency. It is essential that we have that, and we will have it in place. When I announced the new capital plan in November, I was also very clear that we needed to bring forward our radar capacity. This is radar from land, sea and on our naval bases so that we have a complete picture of what is going on in our skies. That will be done by 2028 and that is only because we have seen the 55% increase in our overall capital budget. I appreciate that we have to get those points, but we have a clear plan. We have timelines and know exactly who is carrying out these ambitious timelines as well. I am determined that we will be able to put these new resources and technology in place as soon as possible.