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

Following a request from the Ukrainian Prime Minister to the Taoiseach for the provision of specialist training to the Ukrainian armed forces, the Defence Forces have been in contact with the Ukrainian armed forces to clarify their precise training needs and to assess the possibility of providing such training. That request related specifically to the area of demining. Having been to Ukraine since the war began, I am aware there are mines all over that country, including in houses, schools, public buildings and fields. Even before this war ends, for the parts of Ukraine that are not impacted by the war, there will be a need for some demining operations and so on. They need help, they have asked for it and we are going to try to respond positively to that request.

There has also been a request for engineering assistance around the rebuilding of buildings that have been destroyed by cruise missiles and other munitions. The reconstruction of Ukrainian cities will cost hundreds of billions of euro, which the EU will help to fund in the years ahead. That will be less a military operation. It will require expertise in engineering, construction and project management. Ireland will be more than willing to assist in that regard.

We are considering the issue of strategic lift capacity. The development of a strategic airlift capacity for the Air Corps, although desirable and at a pre-planning stage, requires an informed approach and full consideration. That is a very general answer. We are considering what kind of lift capacity we are looking at. Are we looking at medium-range capacity? If we are doing that, what size aircraft are we looking at? Are we looking at taking out small numbers of people in situations where we need to get people out quickly? Are we talking about moving large troop contingents?

They are two very different prospects with a very different cost. Those things are being examined and I will be happy to let the Deputy know when we have made some decisions on them in terms of investments and so forth. However, we are certainly looking at medium-range capacity, which I believe is necessary and has been raised as well by the commission report.

Regarding the Reserve, I hope we gave the RDFRA some reassurance on this issue. What we have said is there is a figure of 90 days but that it is certainly not cast in stone and can be increased. It is quite straightforward to do that. More importantly, we need to get agreement with employers. The vast majority of reservists have a day job doing something else and I need to make sure people who sign up to be in the Reserve Defence Force and who volunteer to perform a mission or a function with the Permanent Defence Force do not find that their jobs are gone when they come back. We have started the process of reaching out to IBEC and other employer groups to try to agree an understanding on how we can facilitate reservists contributing more to defence infrastructure without risking losing their jobs or missing out on promotion opportunities or whatever. The best way to do that, rather than going straight to legislation where there could be a lot of resistance and so forth, is to try to get agreement on reasonable parameters that would allow reservists to take time off work to be part of missions at home or overseas, and they would get protections from their employers to do that. I am also speaking to the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment's office on that because he is the one who potentially would have to put something in legislation that would firm that up. We are in discussions on that issue at present.