Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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388. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the amount of funding provided under the capital plan for the Army; the amount spent to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18838/17]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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389. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the amount of funding provided under the capital plan for the Air Corps; the amount spent to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18839/17]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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390. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the amount of funding provided under the capital plan for the Naval Service; the amount spent to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18840/17]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos 388 to 390 ,inclusive, together.

Vote 36 (Defence) is managed through a single programme with all operational outputs delivered from a single set of forces encompassing the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service. Capital funding is not apportioned separately in the Capital Plan, but is included in the overall programme costs across the Defence Vote. The White Paper on Defence outlined the strategic defence framework for the next ten years, and identified, as key organisational priorities, the replacement of major equipment platforms and the initiation of infrastructural development programmes for the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service.

The Capital Investment Plan 2016-2021, published in July 2015, allocated €437m in capital funding for Vote 36 (Defence) over the 2016-2021 timeframe. Budget 2017 provided an additional €7m in capital funding for Vote 36 and the updated Capital Plan amounts are shown in the table.

Revised Defence Capital Allocation 2016-2021

Defence

In 2016 Defence capital investment expenditure amounted to some €100m and included a technical supplementary estimate to transfer expenditure to capital subheads within the Vote to meet payments due on the contract for the Naval Service Ships Replacement Programme.

Capital spending in Vote 36 (Defence) is mainly expended as follows:

- Replacement programmes for defensive equipment across the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service;

- Investment in Defence Forces Built Infrastructure including the refurbishment of the Defence property portfolio and provision of replacement and additional facilities where required;

- Purchase of new and replacement Information and Communication Technology hardware across the Department and the Defence Forces.