Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I must point out the following. We have had continual recruitment since 2011. I did not have overall responsibility for defence at the time, but I was Minister of State in the Department. As a Government, we were criticised by Fianna Fáil for carrying out continual recruitment in 2011. It was the only area in the public service where there was continual recruitment from 2011. During the lean years of the worst recession in the history of the State, we had continual recruitment in the Irish Defence Forces, but were nevertheless criticised. We have challenges to bring the strength up to 9,500, but the financial and economic resources are in place to achieve it. While people are exiting the Defence Forces, more people are coming in on an annual basis than are leaving. There are issues with Garda checks and I have challenged the Chief of Staff and the Garda Commissioner to mitigate the issues there.

There are over 55,000 recipients of family income supplement in Ireland. The Government recognises quite rightly that there is a need for family income supplement depending on the circumstances of a family. It is not just members of the Defence Forces who are in receipt of family income supplement. However, I hear what Senators have had to say and what the representative organisations have said to me about it.

Members spoke about the reorganisation. One of the reasons for the reorganisation was the existence of under-strength units. While it is great to have Army barracks all over the place, one must also have full-strength units that can carry out whatever is requested of them. A layer of middle management was cut out during that reorganisation. When one reflects on that reorganisation, as I often have and as I have said to the Chief of Staff, one acknowledges that not everything went 100% well. There are some areas we need to revisit to make corrections. Any organisation or company which has a reorganisation will inevitably have issues that did not go as expected.I would be the first to say it is about standing up and agreeing that there are issues that we have to correct and examine. While I am doing that, I have to consider the resource envelope available to me and my Department.

A Sinn Féin Senator referred to the recruitment drive. Members from Northern Ireland comprise a large number of the Irish Defence Forces, many of whom are based in Dundalk and others are based in Dublin.

Reference was made to Brexit. While the negotiations have yet to commence, it will be recognised that the Taoiseach and the Prime Minister, Theresa May, have said they do not want a hard border. The security of the State is, in the first instance, a matter for An Garda Síochána and the Department of Justice and Equality. If requests are made or assistance sought, that will come to the Department. Prudent planning is continuing within the Defence Forces, through the Chief of Staff, regarding Brexit and how it might affect the Defence Forces.

A Senator referred to the new assistant secretary in the Department. The management board of the Department of Defence currently comprises a Secretary General, two assistant secretaries and a director. The Department is involved in the delivery of a major programme of policy implementation, as set out in the White Paper on Defence. The Department of Defence is engaged in all aspects of policy, from international security and defence and future planning to procurement, property management, human resources, industrial relations, litigation and legislation. The work of the Department also includes financial planning and oversight for the sector, as well as national emergency planning and the Civil Defence.

This is a position about which I spoke to the Secretary General following my appointment when I saw the workload of senior management in the Department. I will defend the recruitment of another assistant secretary within the Department because of the amount of domestic work involved.

More important is our work with Brussels and international peacekeeping operations. We are involved in a significant number of peacekeeping operations involving ten or 12 missions. They do not happen by a person picking up the phone and saying we are sending 300, 400, ten or 11 people. Between the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces, a significant amount of work is involved in that responsibility.