Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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50. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if the 2012 restructuring of the Defence Forces will be reviewed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24053/18]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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As has been outlined on a number of occasions, there are no plans to review the reorganisation of the Defence Forces.  The White Paper on Defence, published in 2015, resulted from a comprehensive examination of Defence requirements over a ten year planning horizon and it specifically provides for the retention of the structures introduced in 2012.  As a result of the reorganisation there has been an improvement in the deployability and sustainability of the Defence Forces, both at home and overseas, and it is clear that any return to previously outdated structures would cause a range of unnecessary inefficiencies, including a return to understrength units.