Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Before I call Deputy Clarke to ask her supplementary questions, I acknowledge that this is our first engagement with the Tánaiste as Minister for Defence. I welcome his practical approach. I have noted in the course of his replies the use of such terms as "21st century", "reform", "investment" and "modernisation". He will find his relationship with this committee to be constructive. We lack the adversarial combat of the Dáil Chamber in our questioning, but that is not to suggest that Deputies Brady, Clarke or Berry are anything other than deeply interested in an improved situation for our Defence Forces.

The Minister has come to his office at the end of a crucial year with respect to Ireland's defence, not least given the outbreak of war in Europe, on our territory, and the coincidence of the groundbreaking report of the commission. Over the course of the past 12 months, this committee has been on its own manoeuvres. We had the opportunity to visit Haulbowline naval base, Casement Aerodrome,Baldonnel, and the Curragh Camp. It is fair to say that what we saw and experienced does not paint a pretty picture of our defence forces. There is no doubt the Minister will have heard in the past few weeks that morale is low and there is an expectation that matters will change considerably.

This time last year, we had a national embarrassment off our south-west coast when we saw manoeuvres by Russia that were a prelude to the unlawful invasion of Ukraine. That has changed matters considerably as far as the Irish people's thinking on defence is concerned. It undoubtedly must have changed thinking in the Government. It is more than ten years since there was a stand-alone Minister for Defence. We know the reason for the dual role. We accept it is due to the constitutional embargo on increasing the number of ministerial seats, but it adds to the Minister's engagement in a way. The committee expects to see progress over the course of the next year. The Tánaiste's tenure as Minister for Defence is likely to be much the same as the tenure of this committee, which is a maximum of two years. The committee expects to be able to work together with him over the course of those two years to ensure the recommendations in the report of the commission are dealt with in a timely and appropriate manner that ensures the momentum of the past 12 months with regard to the Irish people taking defence more seriously than was the case heretofore will not be lost.

That will be a considerable undertaking.

As the Minister will have seen in his previous role as Taoiseach, there is a lot of fear across European capitals about possible interference by Russia with energy cables and communication connections. These fears are grounded in a series of reported incidents. We are somewhat vulnerable in this jurisdiction, with particular reference to the transatlantic cables. I think the Minister will agree with the committee, as we have stated on numerous occasions, that it is important that Ireland play its part as regards a European dimension and that we have our own defence capability and capacity. That, in itself, is a challenging task.

While we welcome the investment commitments, we need to ensure they are implemented urgently. The Minister mentioned pay and conditions in his replies to Deputies Clarke, Brady and Berry but we saw at first hand in Haulbowline the inducements the private sector is offering Naval Service personnel. We note post Covid, for example, that even the cruise ship industry is actively poaching experienced and expert members of the Defence Forces and is able to provide them with inducements that the State cannot. That is a worry. It is important that we see investment in areas such as primary radar, which has been raised this year by Deputies Clarke, Brady and Berry and others, this year. We seek the Minister's assistance in that regard.

There is no doubt that the invasion of Ukraine by Russia has in many respects exposed Ireland as being somewhat tardy and lax in terms of our engagement with the Defence Forces. We are not engaging in any disrespectful commentary when we say that morale is low among the Defence Forces. We have seen and heard that and I have no doubt the Minister has seen and heard it over the past few weeks. We want to work with him to ensure the long-awaited and badly-needed programme of investment is implemented. As Deputy Brady stated, the committee will engage with the implementation group and we will continue to engage with the Department of Defence.

We look forward to a further, active and closely monitored engagement with the Minister and his officials but time is not on our side. This will be a crucial year in terms of the implementation of the plan. I have no doubt we will have further constructive engagement on this with the Tánaiste in the next few months.

Deputy Clarke has a specific supplementary question.