Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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286. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the reason existing Naval Service ships were not refurbished for a fraction of the purchase cost of new ships, including multi-role vessels, the utility of which to the Naval Service is unclear in view of the almost €0.5 billion expenditure on new ships for the Naval Service over recent years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45237/17]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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My priority as Minister with Responsibility for Defence is to ensure that the operational capability of the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service is maintained to the greatest extent possible so as to enable the Defence Forces to carry out their roles as assigned by Government as set out in the White Paper on Defence. Equipment priorities for the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service are being considered in the context of the lifetime of the White Paper on Defence as part of the capability development and equipment planning process.

In this context the principal aim over the period of the White Paper will be to replace and upgrade, as required, existing capabilities in order to retain a flexible response for a wide range of operational requirements at home and overseas. The Defence Capital envelope for the period 2018-2021 is €416m and this will enable investment in major equipment platforms, including the refurbishment and replacement of Naval Service Vessels.

The White Paper underpins the ongoing replacement of the Naval Service fleet. A significant investment over recent years has been on the procurement of 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, a British company, in June 2016 bringing investment in the new ships programme to over €250 million since 2010. The fourth ship, to be named LÉ George Bernard Shaw is scheduled for delivery in mid-2018.

The acquisition of these modern new vessels, combined with an ongoing maintenance regime for all vessels within the fleet, and the continuous process of refurbishment, refit and repair, will ensure that the operational capabilities of the Naval Service, as the States principal seagoing agency, are maintained to the greatest extent.

The service life of a Naval Service ship is determined by the level of operational activity. It is normal practice in a ship's life cycle to carry out a mid-life refurbishment programme so as to extend the useful life of the ship to thirty or more years. In that regard, the Defence Organisation has commenced planning for a mid-life refurbishment programme for the LÉ Roisin (built in 1999) and the LÉ Niamh (built in 2001). This structured mid-life refurbishment programme will future proof the vessels, allow for preventative maintenance and address obsolescence of equipment through capitalising on advancements in technology, thus ensuring reliability of the vessels for the next 15 years.

Three ships in the current flotilla are over 30 years old (LÉ Eithne and LÉ Ciara were built in 1984 and LÉ Orla was built in 1985). The White Paper provides for the replacement of the current Naval Service flagship LÉ Eithne with a multi role vessel (MRV) which will be enabled for helicopter operations and will also have a freight carrying capacity. It is the intention to hold a public tender competition in due course to cover the supply of the MRV subject to the availability of funding within the overall Defence capital funding envelope. The cost of the MRV will only be known once the tender competition is concluded. Future Naval Service capabilities are being planned as part of the White Paper project planning process which will determine the Defence Organisation’s maritime capability requirements.