Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to appear before the select committee today for its consideration of the defence and Army pensions Estimates for 2015. I have a short opening statement, after which I will be happy to take questions from the members.

The combined Estimates for defence and Army pensions for 2015 provides for gross expenditure of €898 million, of which €677 million will be spent on defence and €221 million on Army pensions. Over 73% of the defence Vote goes towards providing pay and allowances, while the remaining allocation provides mainly for the replacement and maintenance of essential equipment and operational costs.

To allow the Defence Forces to deliver effectively on their outputs and undertake the tasks laid down by Government at home and overseas, an adequately resourced Permanent Defence Force, PDF, is required. In this regard, the 2015 defence pay and allowances allocation of some €496 million will provide for a PDF strength of up to 9,500. In addition, it will provide for the pay and allowances of some 625 civilian employees, 350 civil servants, 18 chaplains and 14 Army nurses. Targeted recruitment was undertaken in 2014 and will continue in 2015. In total, there was an overall intake of 416 PDF personnel in 2014. This represented a substantial employment opportunity for people interested in a military career. On the equipment front, the main investment this year will be on the naval vessel replacement programme, together with the necessary acquisition of a range of defensive equipment.

Last summer, as part of the naval vessel replacement programme, an order was placed with Babcock Marine for the third offshore patrol vessel for the Naval Service. By taking up this option under the existing contract, the Department ensured that the third ship will be bought at 2012 prices and will not be index linked. The first of the two ships, the LE Samuel Beckett, was handed over at the end of April 2014.

The second ship, LE James Joyce,is scheduled for delivery in March 2015 and will replace the LE Aoife,which is being decommissioned. The acquisition of three new and modern vessels not only adds efficiency, operational value and durability to the Naval Service, but also represents excellent value for money, as all purchases were made from within existing allocations without recourse to any additional funding. The 2015 provision will also allow for the continued modernisation and improvement of defensive equipment, which will maintain and enhance the capacity of the Defence Forces to deliver effective services across all of the roles assigned by government.

The year 2015 will see Ireland continue its long standing commitment to overseas missions. At the end of 2014, Ireland had 427 personnel serving in 11 different missions throughout the world. These missions embrace a range of activities, including conflict resolution, peacekeeping, humanitarian missions, crisis management and strengthening international security. Currently, the two largest contingents are serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, with 199 personnel and the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, UNDOF, in the Golan Heights, with 138 personnel. I will give the committee a briefing shortly on what is happening with UNIFIL currently. Unfortunately, there have been some unwelcome developments there this morning.Last December on my visit to the Middle East, I met with troops serving with UNIFIL in Lebanon, with UNDOF in Syria and with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation, UNTSO, in Israel and I observed at first hand the invaluable role all these troops play within very challenging environments.

The 2015 Estimates allocation will facilitate the continued provision of a military operational response to both the civilian power and civil authorities, as required. This is a broad, multifaceted role which is of vital importance to national security. Examples of the type of duties undertaken include, explosive ordnance disposal duties, air ambulance duties, naval boardings and prisoner escorts.

The Reserve Defence Force has also experienced significant organisational reform in recent years. One of the key outcomes emerging from the value for money review of the reserve is the introduction of the new single force concept, an initiative which means we now have Army units with permanent and reserve components rather than having a separate stand alone reserve. In addition, a campaign is underway to recruit further members to the Army reserve and Naval Service reserve in order to reach target strength levels. In that context, some 26,000 training man days are provided for in the Estimates for 2015.

The Defence Vote also makes provision for certain costs related to the Civil Defence. Civil Defence continues to develop its role of providing supports to the front-line emergency services and in 2014 was actively involved in supporting hundreds of community events across the country. Civil Defence volunteers throughout the country continue to provide support to both front-line services and local communities in responding to emergencies. In that regard, I am delighted to say that Dublin Civil Defence, assisted by Civil Defence units from other counties, is supporting the efforts of Dublin City Council in helping to deal with the homelessness and street-sleeping issue. Working alongside professional carers contracted by the city council, a 20-bed temporary hostel was opened at Dublin Civil Defence headquarters at its premises on Wolfe Tone Quay, which will operate each day throughout the winter months.

In conjunction with the Civil Defence response to homelessness, accommodation in St Bricin's military base has been made available to Dublin City Council for use as part of its homeless service strategy. Homelessness is a complex topic and there is no quick-fix or easy solution. However, I am delighted that the Defence sector has been in a position to provide some level of meaningful security, support and service to the individuals affected.

The 2015 Estimate makes provision for expenditure of €18.5 million on new building works and maintenance of existing buildings and also includes funding for work on the military archives building at Cathal Brugha Barracks. The Government is supportive of the decade of centenaries commemoration projects and has made funds available, over the period 2014 to 2016, to improve access to the facilities at the military archives building. The first two tranches of material from the Military Service Pensions Collection were made available online last year and further material from this historic collection will be released over the coming years.

I would now like to turn to the Army pensions Vote. This Vote funds the payment of military pension benefits of all categories, including retirement pensions and gratuities, disability pensions, spouses' and children's pensions and other miscellaneous expenditure related to the processing of entitlements under the Defence Forces pensions code. The gross allocation for 2015 is some €221 million, over 95% of which relates to the superannuation benefits of former members of the Defence Forces and their dependants. Expenditure under this Vote is primarily non-discretionary and demand-driven. There are currently some 12,000 pensioners paid by my Department from this Vote, a net increase of 1,000 since 2007.

Finally, I would like to refer to the forthcoming White Paper on Defence. The White Paper will provide the defence policy framework for the next decade and beyond. Defence policy is a critical aspect of Government policy and I am determined to ensure that the new White Paper addresses in full the defence response to future security challenges and related resource requirements in a comprehensive way. The preparation of the new White Paper must take into account an assessment of the future security environment and the roles and tasks that we wish the Defence Forces to undertake. The economic environment and the level of resourcing available must also be factored into consideration. This is a fundamental requirement in order to ensure a sustainable defence policy.

Working groups, comprising civil and military representatives, are considering future operational demands and the defence capabilities required to meet projected future operational requirements. This work will inform recommendations regarding defence provision. I have received an initial draft outline of the White Paper and this will be further developed and refined over the coming months. The final draft of the White Paper will be submitted to the Government in due course. I expect I will be looking for Government approval mid summer.I now commend both Estimates to the committee and look forward to dealing with any questions members may have.