Mr. Maurice Quinn:

I will address Senator Daly's point on the timing. Our intent was to have the engagement, as we tried the last time. We are here now. We will watch the timing in future. The intent is to have the conversation rather than truncate it, and we are open to that.

Following the structure in the strategy statement, the question on neutrality is a policy one. That is our first strategic context. The other one regarding human resources and the climate survey is in our second one, the capacity to deliver. If it is okay with the Chairman, I will take them in that order. The policy position on neutrality is set out in chapter 3 of the White Paper on defence, which picks up on the global strategy put out by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as well. In the round, the purpose of the strategy statement is to drive action and implementation. We want to get into key performance indicators in order that they drive the business planning and so on. It is the outcome and output stuff we are really after, which is why we do not pick one or other policy and restate policies, particularly in the strategy statement. However, I understand the point the Senator is making about neutrality.

The conciliation and arbitration scheme, along with all public service conciliation and arbitration schemes, has come through the period of austerity and faced challenges during that time. We have had an observer at the review that was carried out and the report that was published into the conciliation and arbitration scheme in An Garda Síochána regarding access to the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court. I can confirm that the Minister has announced that, by the end of the year, we will be undertaking a review of the conciliation and arbitration scheme in the defence family. It has been there since the early 1990s. It was a sea change in the way industrial relations were conducted within defence and, in my opinion, it brought many benefits to the members of the Defence Forces and the Defences Forces as an organisation in terms of how it has improved over time. However, we have been through a difficult time. It is timely and we will have the terms of reference for the review of the conciliation and arbitration scheme ready shortly. The review will be launched by the end of the year. Work is under way on that one. It will be one of our actions arising from the strategy statement.

I will set out the context for the climate survey. It arose out of the independent monitoring group, which went back over 12 years and was a concerted effort by the Department and our military colleagues to address interpersonal relations, bullying and harassment within the Defence Forces, so it has a wider remit than industrial relations and conciliation and arbitration. It is important to note that this is what that grew out of and that we do not lose sight of the underlying motivation for it. The climate survey surveyed 10% or so of members of the Defence Forces and has raised challenges across a range of areas. Obviously, pay is one challenge but there are a range of others in the areas of communications, leadership and so forth. Based on our contacts with the Chief of Staff, I know that a significant amount of work has been undertaken within and by the military authorities in consultation with PDFORRA and the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers, RACO, in terms of the response to the climate survey and the actions taken on foot of that. In respect of the Minister's point of view, I do not know the exact date but I know that there is a date in the diary for meeting the representative associations on the follow-up to the climate survey - the commitment given by the Minister. I can confirm that separately.

There is no single response to the climate survey. It covers a range of the actions that are happening in human resources such as recruitment, retention, our contact with the representative associations and the changes we are making in recruitment and so on. One thing that is driving things on our side is the fact that many individual issues came up such as the contracts for soldiers, what are known as the post-1994 contract soldiers. There were a range of issues. What it comes down to is having effective workforce planning for the Defence Forces into the future. A lot of work is ongoing, both civil and military, to ensure that those White Paper projects that deal with human resources capture and put our arms around workforce planning. That is about analysing the gaps that are there and how best to fill them in order that we have a more coherent plan going forward. That is quite a long-winded way of saying all that feeds into the response to the climate survey. It is all about achieving excellence and ensuring the Defence Forces continue to be an employer of choice for young people.

The last second-hand equipment we bought consisted of the LÉ Ciaraand the LÉ Orlaand that was many years ago. I am not aware of us procuring anything second-hand from the UK. We put a lot of work into ensuring that the Defence Forces have the best kit that supports what they need to do. Members know that we have a major ongoing programme of procurement for the Defence Forces, including aircraft, the ships programme and updating the armoured personnel carriers for use overseas. That is the high-level stuff. There is a range of more detailed stuff beneath that. If there is anything, I can come back to the Senator regarding the recent procurement of second-hand equipment.

I am limited in what I can say about airspace.

What I can say is that the provision of intercepting jets or jets for Ireland was one of the issues that was considered when we were doing the White Paper. The cost versus the benefits that could be achieved were such that it is something that we are committed to coming back to in due course.

With regard to overflights, the lead on that is with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. It is not appropriate for me to comment on that here.