Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and his officials to the House. I thank him for his comprehensive comments. Like my colleagues, Senators Ó Donnghaile and Senator Joe O'Reilly, I was present at the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence when the Minister answered a lot of questions. I hope that in my contribution I do not repeat some of the questions to which the Minister has already responded, but I have a few questions for him.

In December 2020, the Irish Government established the Commission on the Defence Forces. As the Minister said, its brief was to outline a 2030 vision in which the Irish Defence Forces would be a military force capable of providing the people of Ireland with a safe and secure environment and enforcing Ireland's sovereignty in our ever-evolving world.

The commission comprised members of the Civil Service, retired personnel from the Irish Defence Forces, as well as academics and advisers from Ireland and other European states of similar size, such as Finland. On 9 February 2022, with Russia preparing for its invasion of Ukraine, the commission released its report, which made 130 recommendations. The Minister has gone through many of them in detail at the committee and again here today. In July 2022, in response to the publication of the report, the Minister announced an action plan to transform the defence forces and see the largest ever increase in the defence budget in the history of the State. This will result in the defence budget rising from €1.1 billion to €1.5 billion annually by 2028. The Minister has indicated that this will be index linked, which I very much welcome.

This will allow for the required substantial transformation and investment in recruitment and equipment that was identified by the commission. True to his word, last week the Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Jack Chambers, delivered €1.174 billion for the defence budget for next year. This is an increase of €67 million on last year's budget allocation and provides a financial platform for the defence sector to initiate the required transformation, as recommended by the Commission on the Defence Forces.

This report provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to review and refocus defence provision in Ireland. The establishment of the Commission on the Defence Forces was a key aspect of the programme for Government and of the Government's commitment to the Defence Forces.As the Minister has outlined, the high-level action plan has identified 48 recommendations that have been accepted for implementation. Some 55 recommendations have been accepted in principle with further consideration required on the optimal approach to meeting the intent of the commission. Seventeen recommendations are desirable and will require further evaluation with key stakeholders of the resource, policy, financial and legislative implications before a decision on implementation can be considered. Ten will need to revert to Government at a later stage.

A high-level steering board, chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of the Taoiseach, is set out in the high-level action plan. The structure will be important. The most important part of that is the requirement for an independent chairperson. The Minister has indicated he is looking for an independent chairperson and I wish him well in that endeavour.

As the Minister said, the report made 130 recommendations. The most important aspects relate to pay and conditions, to which my colleague, Senator Joe O'Reilly, has alluded. I would like an indication from the Minister as to when that will be decided.

The report also covered the Reserve Defence Force and the concerns about the low level of participation. My colleague, Senator Chambers, as a former officer in the Reserve, may have more to say in that regard.

The pay and conditions are important aspects of the report. There are currently 8,400 members in the Defence Forces. The minimum amount we are required to have is 9,500. We are already a long way short of the numbers we should have. The report recommends the recruitment of an extra 2,000 members. I would like to hear the Minister's plans for aggressively pursuing that target while retaining the people we have already in the Defence Forces. That is going to be a very difficult task. Colleagues mentioned a number of ideas at the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs. I will let them allude to those ideas. I believe there should be aggressive recruitment in our secondary schools, post-leaving certificate, PLC, programmes and Youthreach training centres. I agree with Senator O'Reilly that members of the Travelling community should be pursued in this regard.

The military service allowance could be acted on immediately. It needs to be increased immediately. This is an allowance that was brought in to compensate Defence Forces personnel for the special disadvantages associated with military life, including liability for duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week; a requirement to serve for a fixed engagement which cannot be terminated at will; being subject to a code of military discipline under the Defence Act 1954, involving restrictions on personal liberty which have no counterpart in civilian employment; being subject to transfers, both permanent and temporary, involving disruption of home life; exposure to danger; a requirement to endure bad and uncomfortable conditions; and, on occasion, being faced with a decision on whether to use a lethal weapon. Those are important points to put on the record of the House. The allowance can be dealt with immediately. It would help with the retention difficulties we are having at the moment. It would also help morale within the Army.

The post-1994 stipulation requiring people to retire when they reach the age of 50 should be dealt with as a matter of urgency. That will come into effect in December this year. It is ludicrous. Professionally trained personnel, including sergeants, corporals and others, are obliged to retire at a time of crisis in the Defence Forces. That should be-----