Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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17. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence his plans to undertake an independent cost-benefit analysis of the cost of contracted air services as against a fully staffed and resourced Air Corps; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15402/17]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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I should say at the outset that, as Minister with Responsibility for Defence, I remain open at all times to considering more efficient and effective approaches to provision of Defence services and, whilst I would never rule out the possibility of seeking an independent review of particular aspects of how the Defence Forces is managed and operates, I have no plans, for reasons that I will outline, to have the type of cost-benefit analysis suggested in the Deputy’s question undertaken.

Furthermore, I also wish to state, in relation to the reference to a fully staffed Air Corps, that it is acknowledged that, as with other areas of the public service, challenges have arisen in relation to the recruitment and retention of personnel, including pilots and Air Traffic Control staff. I want to assure the House that there is significant work underway in the Defence Organisation, both civil and military, aimed at improving the capacity of the Air Corps. This includes work on a range of actions to improve pilot retention, whilst recruitment of new personnel is also taking place. Actions are also underway to return a full level of Air Traffic Control services to the Air Corps. Air Traffic Control training is taking place and options to ensure the longer-term sustainability of such services in Baldonnel are being identified.

As regards resourcing generally, the White Paper on Defence contains a number of commitments in relation to aircraft replacement, including replacement of the Cessna fleet with three larger aircraft, suitably equipped for Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance tasks. The two CASA Maritime Patrol Aircraft will also be replaced, with consideration given to their replacement with larger more capable aircraft.

The White Paper on Defence was approved by Government in 2015 and followed an extensive consultation process and a comprehensive examination of all Defence requirements over a ten year planning horizon. On this basis, the White Paper set out the various roles assigned by Government to the Defence Forces. These roles are varied, but include providing for the military defence of the State from armed aggression, provision of aid to the civil power - meaning in practice to assist, when requested, An Garda Síochána, who have primary responsibility for the internal security of the State, and also to contribute to national resilience through the provision of specified ‘aid to the civil authority’ supports to lead agencies in response to major emergencies.

The Air Corps contributes to the fulfilment of these, and indeed to all of the other roles assigned to the Defence Forces, and clearly has and will continue to have a significant contribution to make in this regard, which is also reflective of the need for the Defence Forces to operate jointly. The various roles assigned are mutually supporting and the capacity of the Defence Forces to undertake these fully has a multiplier effect. To look at one service in isolation would fail to capture the value that the services provide through joint approaches to the roles assigned.

In contributing to meeting the roles assigned to the Defence Forces, it is currently the case that various aspects of the provision of aviation services are out-sourced by the Air Corps, principally in the areas of aircraft maintenance, pilot training and technician training. The reasons for this are because the cost of in-house provision of such niche expertise and equipment required would be prohibitively expensive in the context of the number of airframes operated by the Air Corps. Indeed, I understand that this is normal practice internationally.

My Department and the Defence Forces continue to keep an open mind in relation to the possibility of out-sourcing generally, but it must be acknowledged that there are clearly limits to how far this can go, given the security sensitive nature of many Air Corps’ operations provided to An Garda Síochána and the Revenue Customs Service which means that an in-house capacity is critical.