Seanad debates

Thursday, 17 December 2020

Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters

Defence Forces

12:30 pm

Photo of Thomas ByrneThomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators for raising this. I know their commitment to the Defence Forces well. Senator Chambers served in the Reserve Defence Force for many years and Senator O'Loughlin has constantly been a strong advocate for the Defence Forces publicly and within the parliamentary party. I take my colleagues comments very seriously indeed.

I apologise on behalf of the Minister for Defence. He is also the Minister for Foreign Affairs. It is quite busy at the moment for him, and for me, and we are all trying to help each other out, so I agreed to take this for him today as there is a lot happening.

The Minister was delighted to announce last Tuesday that the Government has approved the establishment of an independent commission on the Defence Forces. The Government also approved the terms of reference and the membership of the commission. The decision taken at Cabinet yesterday follows a specific commitment made in the programme for Government, as agreed by the three parties, to establish a commission on the Defence Forces before the end of the year.

The establishment of an independent commission on the Defence Forces underpins the Government’s commitment to ensuring that the Defence Forces are fit for purpose, both in meeting immediate requirements and in seeking to develop a longer-term vision. In establishing this commission, which contains impressive national and international high-level expertise and experience, the Government is seeking to ensure that the outcome of this process will be a Defence Forces that is agile, flexible and adaptive in responding to dynamic changes in the security environment, including new and emerging threats and technologies.

The membership of the commission has been carefully chosen to ensure the optimum range of expertise in key areas including management, human resources, security policy, public service, as well as both domestic and international military expertise. The commission will be chaired by Mr. Aidan O’Driscoll, a former Secretary General of the Department of Justice, and previously Secretary General of the Department of agriculture, and will be supported by an independent secretariat under the direction of the chairperson.

The terms of reference require that the commission’s overall approach will be guided and informed by both the White Paper on Defence 2015 and the White Paper Update 2019, which set out Ireland’s overall defence policy approach. This is against a backdrop of the high-level defence goal which is to provide for the military defence of the State, contribute to national and international peace and security and fulfil all other roles assigned by the Government. This fits within the broader context of the protection of Ireland’s defence and security interests nationally and internationally.

In accordance with a commitment made in the programme for Government, the Minister for Defence consulted widely on the terms of reference, involving a wide stakeholder group comprising the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, the Defence Forces representative associations, the Defence Forces veterans associations, the unions and associations representing Department of Defence staff and civilian employees, the Defence spokespersons of Opposition parties, the Institute of International and European Affairs, the Royal Irish Academy and all other Departments. In finalising the terms of reference, all submissions were carefully considered, in the context of what we agreed in the programme for Government.

The establishment of the commission is a significant opportunity to address the issues agreed in the programme for Government. The Government and the Minister want the work to the commission to take a visionary but practical approach to a range of issues and the Minister is very anxious that the commission is not deflected in this task. He is aware that others have suggested that the scope of the commission be widened but he wishes to keep its remit within what is envisaged within the programme for Government. In giving priority to the matters in the programme, the Minister took account of the position that like other Departments, the Department of Defence, has been subject to a wide range of review and reform measures both internally and through the Civil Service reform and wider public service reform. In 2021, it will be subject to an organisational capability review. In recent times, the Department has led action 10 of Our Public Service 2020 to embed project and programme management across the public service. It has led out on the adoption of the provision of shared transactional HR and payroll services and is currently participating in the programme to deliver shared financial services across the Civil Service.

In concluding, the Minister has asked me to stress that, in observing some of the external commentary about the Department of Defence and its approach, it in no way accords with his experience. He makes this point based on his leadership as Minister for Defence and in seeing at close hand over an extended period what the Department does and the sustained commitment of officials to ensure the best outcomes for the citizen. There will always be alternate views, however, this kind of difference of view will always feature in every area of public policy. The commission’s focus is targeted precisely on the issues identified in the programme for Government for urgent but positive attention.

The Commission on the Defence Forces has a mandate from the programme to report within 12 months, and given the wide ranging and comprehensive scope of the detailed tasks set out it has a challenging job ahead. I understand arrangements have already been made for the inaugural meeting of the commission to be held early next week, and the Minister looks forward to receiving its report this time next year.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.