Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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126. To ask the Minister for Defence his views on whether there is a need to increase expenditure on defence over the next decade; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21736/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Arising from the 2015-2017 Comprehensive Review of Expenditure (CRE) process, the Defence Vote was provided with an allocation of €677m in 2015. Some €496m (73%) of this allocation provides for the pay and allowances of up to 9,500 Permanent Defence Force (PDF) personnel, 625 civilian employees and 350 civil servants. The remaining €181m (27%) provides mainly for non-pay costs relating to the replacement and maintenance of essential equipment and infrastructure together with ongoing operational costs. Expenditure decisions on resource allocations are made on a prioritised basis in accordance with any assessed operational need. Decisions on future expenditure allocations will be made by Government, in due course.

Work is concluding on the development of a new White Paper on Defence which will consider the future operational demands and the defence capabilities required to meet those demands over the next ten years. I intend submitting a final draft of the White Paper to Government by the end of July, 2015.

In that regard, the open policy debate facilitated at the recent White Paper Symposium in Farmleigh House was a very useful and worthwhile exercise and represents the concluding phase of the White Paper consultation process. It afforded national and international policy experts a forum to debate the differing policy approaches and courses of action, to inform recommendations around future defence requirements.

I am satisfied that the White Paper will play a key role in informing future Defence funding requirements.