Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Tánaiste. Hopefully, this is the start of many positive engagements with the committee in his new role. I want to start on Vote 36 - Defence. I have a number of specific questions. I will refer to the programme expenditure by subhead, if that is of any assistance. I also have a couple of general questions that I want to ask. Given the low level of investment in defence over the last significant number of years, any spending is going to be welcome. Does the Tánaiste think the increase that has been put aside this year will make timely progress on the recommendations contained in the commission's report?

I want to move on to the 95 projects listed in the White Paper on Defence published in 2015 that were to be completed within ten years. There are 43 of them remaining and 13 of them are active. I am not asking for information on the individual projects, but I ask for a general overview of where they are, what they are and what impact the recent rise in the cost of materials is going to have on those projects. Staying with the projects for the minute, subhead A13 relates to built infrastructure, if anybody wants to look at it. The outturn in 2022 seems to be far below what was budgeted, so the increase this year is obviously welcome. Is there a portion of that budget that is set aside for the maintenance and upkeep of built infrastructure that remains under the control of the Department of Defence but not in active use by the Department?