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

I thank Deputy Durkan for raising this issue. The acquisition of new equipment and equipment upgrades for the Defence Forces remains a focus for me as Minister for Defence and is a matter that is kept under constant review. The development of a new White Paper on defence is under way. The White Paper will provide the future policy framework for defence for the next decade. A key part of the development of the White Paper is the consideration of potential challenges arising in our future defence and security environment. Future capability requirements, including those in relation to overseas peace support missions, including the UN, are being considered in the drafting of the new White Paper. After this Question Time I will spend two hours with officials to finalise the first draft of the White Paper. This ongoing work on the White Paper will underpin recommendations regarding the future provision of military equipment to be deployed at home and overseas.

In many ways the type of equipment is changing all the time with regard to technology and potential threats. A threat such as cybersecurity was not even known to anybody 15 or 20 years ago, or perhaps ten years ago, whereas now it is a major part of the demands on any state to protect its citizens. For the present, decisions on new equipment, including aircraft, ships, information technology and computer systems and the upgrade of military equipment in operational use will continue to be made on a strictly prioritised basis within a restricted budget with a view to maintaining the capability of all roles assigned by Government to the Defence Forces.

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