Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like the Minister, I begin by welcoming the appointment of Rear Admiral Mark Mellett. I am sure he will give distinguished service to the force and I wish him well as he undertakes his pretty onerous responsibilities. At the same time, I acknowledge the fact General Conor O'Boyle has done the State some considerable service and wish him well in his retirement.

It would be remiss of me at the outset if I did not acknowledge that in approaching the challenge of the White Paper, the Minister has been very responsible. His approach has been innovative. The symposium at Farmleigh was interesting and worthwhile and the Minister's appointment of the external advisory committee, members of which are in the Public Gallery, under the chairmanship of John Minihan was a worthwhile initiative. I must express some disappointment, however, at what we are doing here this evening. There are shades of a box-ticking exercise about it. We only found out about this after we had agreed business for the week last week. I put it to the Minister that we would have the opportunity to have a far more detailed exchange of views on the issues before us in a committee. That the Minister was unable to complete his speech within the time allotted is indicative of the difficulties we face.

Fianna Fáil believes the Defence Forces are of critical importance to our State and society. The Irish people take great pride in the work of the Defence Forces and in their achievements at home and abroad. We welcome the proposed publication of a new White Paper on defence to succeed that which we brought forward in government in 2000. It is disappointing, however, that we are only about to see the White Paper almost two years after the publication of the Green Paper. The White Paper of 2000 was a milestone in Irish defence policy as it was the first such statement in the history of the State. The Fianna Fáil Government elected in 1997 committed itself in the Action Programme for the Millennium to the publication of a White Paper on defence. The production of any White Paper, but especially the first of its kind was a significant undertaking, and it is to the credit of the Department of Defence that it was achieved within the timeframe. It set out a strategy to the year 2010 to modernise and develop the Defence Forces to ensure they were capable of fulfilling the roles laid down by Government and to maintain an effective defence capability. It can reasonably be stated that the 2000 White Paper achieved its objectives and it afforded a significant degree of certainty to the Defence Forces in the decade that followed. While Fianna Fáil welcomes the publication of a White Paper, we none the less express serious concern that fundamental reorganisation of the Defence Forces took place under the auspices of the former Minister, Deputy Shatter, prior to publication.

Fianna Fáil values the work of our Defence Forces and takes pride in their achievements at home and abroad. Our continuing participation in UN-mandated peace support operations enhances our international reputation and reaffirms our national commitment to the United Nations. Fianna Fáil believes our Defence Forces are critical to both State and society. Sadly, it has not always been clear that the Government values our defence organisation sufficiently. The decision in March 2011 to assign the Defence portfolio as a subsidiary role to the Minister for Justice and Equality indicated an essential lack of respect for the position. While it was not unreasonable to assign it with another Cabinet portfolio, assigning it to Justice and Equality, which is one of the busiest Departments, was a retrograde step. It is also almost without parallel among democratic countries for the Minister with political responsibility for policing also to be in charge of the military. Only tiny Luxembourg follows this policy. In the words of one former army officer: "All the security forces come under one Minister, and that means all the lawful lethal force of the State." Fianna Fáil consistently raised this issue between 2011 and 2014 and we welcome that the current Minister for Defence is not also responsible for the Justice and Equality portfolio. We believe, however, that we must go further and commit ourselves to the restoration of Defence as a lead portfolio in Cabinet as a clear affirmation of the value we as a State must place on our Defence Forces.

There is growing view among current and former members of the Defence Forces that a critical level has now been reached in respect of the overall numbers and geographical layout of the forces. The 2012 PDFORRA conference, which took place in the wake of the announcement of the reorganisation of the Defence Forces, heard claims that they are not fit for purpose, that morale is suffering and that certain elements of Government and the Civil Service are constantly trying to bring about the total destruction of the Defence Forces by stealth. I think this is probably not the case but, none the less, it is a genuine fear among some of the ranks. Fianna Fáil believes that any further reduction in numbers and equipment is inadvisable. Over the ten years from 1997 to 2007, the defence organisation was a model of public sector reform. It was an example of how public sector reform could be achieved in partnership and co-operation. While the numbers in both the Defence Forces and the Department of Defence dropped, productivity rose. Payroll savings were invested in better training and equipment for our troops. Defence expenditure was halved as a share of GDP. Significant and lasting economies were achieved in this time. In this regard and subject to stable public finances, the Permanent Defence Force should be increased at a minimum to 10,500 by 2025.

We also call for the three-brigade structure to be restored. We believe the move to a two-brigade structure was ill-advised and ignored long-standing organisational linkages and histories. The savings accrued were minimal and did not deliver any appreciable benefits. We believe that the two-brigade move will be recognised as an ill-considered move in retrospect so we favour correcting this mistake right now rather than stubbornly persisting with bedding it in. We need to remember that the Defence Forces are akin to an insurance policy in numerous arenas. No one likes paying their house, car or health insurance, but without it and when trouble arises, they are unable to operate effectively and provide support to their family. Doing it on the cheap usually leads to partial cover and many excuses. The 2012 restructuring of the Defence Forces continues to generate controversy to say the least. In a response to a recent question on the reorganisation of the Defence Forces, the Minister stated the object of the reorganisation was not focused on achieving savings but rather to ensure the Defence Forces could operate more efficiently and effectively. The fact is, however, that the essential element of military efficiency and effectiveness is command and control. Is it not logical that command and control is most effective when it operates closest to the operational troops? The reorganisation re-located that command and control to the operational troops in Custume Barracks, Athlone and Finner Camp, Donegal from Athlone to Dublin and from the troops in Renmore Barracks in Galway from Athlone to Collins Barracks in Cork. Rather than improving effective and efficient command and control for these three garrisons, it has done the exact opposite and in so doing has reversed a core element of the long-established military command principles.

The Defence Forces provide a contingency capability for the State across a wide spectrum of operational areas on land, at sea and in the air. Essential to that contingent capability is the requirement to increase the size of the Defence Forces rapidly in times of national or international emergency and having decreased manning levels in times of less need. Maintaining the formation structures to facilitate such expansions is a centuries-old prudent policy.

The State, in not adhering to this principle, was found wanting in both 1939 and 1969. The folly of not maintaining this policy imperative was repeated in 2012 with the reorganisation of the Defence Forces.

The RDF, to which the Minister has alluded on many occasions both today and in the past, is under pressure to retain what it has. No recruitment has taken place in the first half of 2015. We learned yesterday in the Irish Examinerthat private companies, have been actively seeking senior Defence Force personnel at such a rate that senior personnel warn that the military is at serious risk of not being fit for purpose. The Irish Examinerreports that nearly 100 officers have resigned in the past two years and that allied to continuing budget and manpower cuts this has weakened the Defence Forces in some key areas. RACO, the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers, has warned that the military is critically short of specialist officers including pilots, aeronautical engineers, and bomb disposal experts and that a contributing factor to this brain drain has been the Department of Defence's refusal to honour conditions of service, such as previously agreed career promotion terms. The association said this led many officers to quit as they saw no future for career development in the Defence Forces.

The Defence Forces should have a designated strength of 9,500, but their numbers have now fallen to 9,050. The bomb disposal service is at half its officer strength. The Air Corps lacks a third of officers in the aeronautical engineering department and has only 70% of the necessary pilots. According to RACO general secretary, Commandant Earnan Naughton, "This continual loss of organisational corporate memory and specialist knowledge is a matter which requires immediate attention". He went on to say that the investment required to deliver complex military capability requires human expertise to meet the broad spectrum of an increasingly technologically driven security environment.

Fianna Fáil believes that for an island nation, our naval service is underdeveloped and undervalued. Comparable nations, such as New Zealand, have a much greater maritime component in their defence forces. Furthermore, Ireland's maritime area has expanded from 410,000 sq km to 1 million sq km since the publication of the White Paper in 2000. We all recall the challenge of Ireland's responsibility for 20% of the EU maritime area was a big issue at the symposium in Farmleigh.

Over the next ten years Fianna Fáil believes that we should give serious consideration to expanding the Naval Service. We also suggest that the Minister for Defence be assigned the marine portfolio as was the case between 1993 and 1997. Fianna Fáil would also examine transferring maritime aspects of the remit of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport to a Department of the Marine.

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