Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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672. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the proposed programme for the purchase of new naval vessels; and the role it is expected that they will undertake. [40173/16]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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The most significant investment of recent years by the Defence Organisation has been on the procurement of the new Off-Shore Patrol Vessels for the Naval Service. The third ship in the programme, LÉ William Butler Yeats was commissioned in to service in October 2016. A contract for an additional sister ship was placed with Babcock International in June 2016 at a cost of €54.3m, bringing investment in the new ships programme to over €250 million since 2010. The fourth ship is scheduled for delivery in mid 2018.

This aligns with the project planning process in place under the White Paper on Defence which will determine the Defence Organisation’s maritime capability requirements.

The requirement for a fourth ship is regarded as urgent and expedient given the age of the older remaining ships in the fleet, LÉ Orla, LÉ Ciara and LÉ Eithne all of which are over thirty years of age. The additional ship will allow the Naval Service meet its patrol day targets with due cognisance to the significant additional operational requirements for the Naval fleet under Operation Pontus in the Mediterranean Sea.

The White Paper provides for the replacement of the current flagship, LÉ Eithne, by a multi-role vessel (MRV). LÉ Eithne was built in 1984. It is the Government’s intent that this new vessel will provide a flexible and adaptive capability for a wide range of maritime tasks, both at home and overseas.

In addition, the two existing Coastal Patrol Vessels, LÉ Ciara and LÉ Orla are due for replacement in the coming years (also built in 1984). It is outlined in the White Paper that these ships will be replaced with similar type vessels with countermine and counter IED capabilities.

Work has commenced in the Department of Defence on the next phase of the Naval Service Vessel Replacement Programme. The specifications for the replacement vessels will be drawn up and a public tender competition will be instigated to cover the supply of the future ships within the overall available funding envelope.