John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chair and thank the Minister for coming before us to discuss what is a really important report and something that has been a long time coming. I welcome the opportunity to engage the Minister on it.

I commend the work of the Commission and all its members and the lengthy process which they embarked upon and welcome the findings of the commission. The report is only as good as the implementation. I certainly would be eager to hear about the 38 early actions, as the Minister mentioned.

I welcome the fact that the Minister has moved on one of the more important and timely issues, namely the associate affiliation of PDFORRA to ICTU. I welcomed that at the time and merely restate that.

It is a particularly important report. We are aware of the serious challenges within the Defence Forces in the haemorrhaging of members and the challenges of recruitment. That was only highlighted again during the week by a media report where an entire class of Naval Service recruits had left the force and allegedly signed up with the private sector. It highlights the serious challenges and the need to stifle the haemorrhage in not only the Naval Service but also the Air Corps and, indeed, the Army.

To touch on the recommendations, I mentioned the 38 early actions. It would be good to get an update on those. Of the 130 overall recommendations, 103 have been agreed and 17 are subject to further evaluation. I do not expect the Minister to give details of all of them here but it would be good to get a report or note from the Minister outlining what has been agreed and what is gone for further evaluation. On the remaining ten recommendations, the report states that it is proposed to bring forward recommendations at a later stage. The Minister might elaborate on that. "A later stage", to me, suggests kicking it down the road and essentially means being put on the long finger. I would be eager to get a response on that.

From the outset, a level of ambition, certainly from my perspective, is what we should be aiming to achieve. I speak from the perspective of us being a militarily neutral nation. With that, it means investing in the Defence Forces to ensure we can defend our neutrality. Unfortunately, military neutrality has been an excuse to under-fund the Defence Forces up until that point and let this Commission report be a change in the approach to it.

Was the fact that the Department was not part of the Commission's remit an oversight and is its inclusion needed? When we are dealing with the civilian and military management, it all should be part of analysis and review. What are the Minister's views on that? Is there a plan at any stage to carry out a review of the Department and the civilian aspect of the Defence Forces as well?

Pay is a major issue within the Defence Forces and a deciding factor for so many of the excellent members of the Defence Forces to leave. There are recommendations here in terms of the seagoing allowance, the long-service increments, etc. The Minister stated in the past that these issues are still up for consideration. Can I get an update as to where we are in terms of the allowances' expansion and, indeed, reintroduction, because one of the allowances that was abolished previously, which is not recommended in the Commission report and which should be, is the specialised instructor's allowance? The Minister might give a view on the implementation of all of those allowances and also the specialised instructor's allowance.

The Reserve Defence Force is another aspect of the Defence Forces that is haemorrhaging members. It is very much on its knees. There is a recommendation in the report that there would be a regeneration plan for the RDF, with clear and specific timelines developed and published by the end of 2022 on how to reform and fund the reserves. What the Commission is talking about is ambitious. We are not only talking about building up the Reserve to what it used be in the past. The Commission is also recommending that there would be reserves within the Air Corps and an establishment figure there of 400 within the Naval Service as well. They recommend that report would be started by now and concluded by the end of this year. The Minister might tell the committee whether that is included in the early actions and whether that work has commenced.

Implementation will be key to all of this. I hear what the Minister is saying in terms of the high-level action plan in terms of the implementation oversight group with an independent chair. All of that is welcome as well.

The situation in Ukraine has focused many people's minds in terms of defence, including our own defence capabilities.

I have questioned the Minister previously on our defence capabilities, particularly at sea. The Nord Stream gas pipelines raise serious questions about our defence capabilities at sea when we have data cables going through our waters and are not able to put ships to sea. This plan speaks about a six-year timeframe. Is that realistic? Are there opportunities to move further and faster on some measures where there are gaping holes in our defence capabilities?

The implementation oversight group will be critical. What oversight will be there in terms of that group? Does the committee have a remit to call in and question the group? It will be important that such oversight be there. The Minister has a key role and the Department of the Taoiseach will be critical, but this committee should have an oversight capacity on the implementation of the recommendations.