John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Question 240: To ask the Minister for Defence if the completion of the EU's military requirements catalogue will result in increased armaments expenditure by Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38459/05]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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I attended the General Affairs and External Relations Council, GAERC, meeting in Defence Ministers formation on 21 November 2005 at which progress in developing military capabilities was one of the items discussed. Under military capabilities, the discussions focused on the requirements catalogue for 2005, the single progress report and the headline goal questionnaire. Comprehensive planning and security sector reform were discussed under civil-military co-operation.

The requirements catalogue for 2005 is the first step in the delivery of Headline Goal 2010. It identifies the forces and capabilities needed against which member states will be invited to make offers through the headline goal questionnaire. It is a planning document and therefore it imposes no obligations on member states in terms of capability development or the provision of specific capabilities.

In the context of the broader development of the EU's capacity to carry out both civilian and military crisis management operations, Ireland has advocated that the EU should prioritise the development of qualitative aspects of capability development. I am aware that this view is shared by many EU Defence Ministers at a time when the majority of member states, including Ireland, has no plans to increase their defence spending.