Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Defence, Deputy Coveney. The Minister welcomes the publication of the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. The establishment of the Commission on the Defence Forces was set out in the programme for Government and was a key priority for the Minister for Defence. The publication of the report represents the culmination of the work carried out over the past 13 months and is testament to the considerable efforts of all who contributed to its completion.

The report is wide-ranging and comprehensive. As Senator O'Loughlin mentioned, it contains 69 main recommendations and, together with sub-recommendations, there are 133 recommendations in total. The report proposes significant changes for the Defence Forces, including to high-level command and control structures, and for the level of defence provision in Ireland. It challenges the status quoacross a range of areas and is forthright about the requirement for cultural change in the Defence Forces. It proposes a range of measures to make the Defence Forces a more inclusive, diverse, equal and attractive workplace. The importance of the Reserve is also clearly stated.

The report poses serious questions regarding defence provision that we as a society must carefully consider. This includes the type of defence capabilities we should retain and the level of resourcing we are willing to commit to in order to equip and train our Defence Forces for the roles we require them to undertake.The Minister hopes that this report will foster real debate about the defence that we need as a modern neutral European country.

The report sets out three indicative levels of ambition, LOAs. LOA 1 would encompass the current capability; LOA 2 would enhance our current capabilities and seek to address specific priority areas; and LOA 3 would look to develop full spectrum defence capabilities to protect Ireland and its people to an extent comparable to similar-sized countries in Europe.

The commission recommended a step to LOA 2 in the short term, pending more detailed policy debate and decision required for higher levels of ambition. This step up to LOA 2 would require an additional €500 million per annum. LOA three would require expenditure of €3 billion per annum.

Clearly, there are matters that require careful consideration and, in some critical aspects, interdepartmental discussion and agreement. This includes the level of resourcing that may be allocated to defence and the governance framework that will be required to underpin the changes that the commission has recommended. The Minister is also anxious to engage with key stakeholders in the Oireachtas.

There have been calls, obviously, for quick movement on the recommendations in the report and I understand that there may be an impatience to move on certain aspects of the report. The Minister believes that a four- to five-month timeframe is necessary to bring a considered and comprehensive proposal back to Government to address the fundamental issues that the commission has set out. The Minister intends to engage with key stakeholders in the intervening period.

Significant work is currently ongoing, which the commission has referred to in its report. This includes key issues such as the development of a capability development planning process, the work of the independent review into dignity and equality issues, the ongoing procurement of equipment and infrastructure and direct entry competitions and the amendment of legislation relating to the working time directive.

I thank the Senator for raising this important matter.