Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

The White Paper on Defence 2000 covers the potential benefits of civilianisation and contracting out of certain military posts. It recognises that civilianisation could "release personnel for operational duties for which they are specifically trained". It could release them "from essentially administrative and other tasks which can more appropriately be undertaken by civilians". It further states: "The argument for civilianisation and contracting out is that it is generally more cost effective". The White Paper also recognises that there may be additional benefits such as enhancing continuity in certain appointments, which can be lacking due to the frequent transfer of military personnel.

Opportunities to civilianise certain posts are continuously being explored. This has resulted in agreement that certain posts that would in the normal course of events have been filled by military personnel will be filled by civilian personnel. Four such posts are being filled in the management information framework area and three in the military archives.

The review of implementation of the White Paper on Defence, which was published in April 2007, emphasised that the primary objective of civilianisation is to release soldiers for operational duties, thus increasing the operational capacity of the Defence Forces. The review recommended further civil and military exploration of options for civilianisation. Subsequent to the publication of the review, civilianisation was incorporated into the pay agreement and modernisation agenda agreed with the Defence Forces representative associations in the context of the Towards 2016 partnership agreement.

My Department is currently engaged in discussions with the military authorities to identify military posts that may be suitable for contracting out and civilianisation. This work in progress requires careful consideration of the costs and benefits arising from the civilianisation of any identified posts and assessing the feasibility of any such proposals, with particular reference to resource constraints. When potential posts have been identified, discussions with the representative associations, as envisaged in the pay agreement and modernisation agenda, and any other relevant stakeholders will commence.

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