Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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98. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if the Government plans to participate in the Joint EU Intelligence School; the funds that will be spent on the project; his views on reports that the project would form part of a European Army; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49024/18]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Under PESCO, Member States are coming together in different groups to develop and make available additional capabilities and enablers for peacekeeping and crisis management operations under the EU Common Security and Defence Policy.

With regard to the Joint EU Intelligence School, this is a PESCO Project which is led by Greece and features in the second round of projects. The second round of projects were agreed at the Foreign Affairs Council with Defence Ministers in Brussels on the 19th November, 2018.

The project aims to provide education and training in intelligence disciplines and other specific fields to EU member states intelligence personnel. I can confirm that Ireland does not have any plans to participate in this project and as such no costs will arise in this regard.

PESCO is provided for in the Treaty of the European Union (Articles 42.6, 46 and Protocol 10) introduced under the Lisbon Treaty. PESCO has nothing to do with the creation of an EU army. Indeed the Irish Protocols to the Lisbon Treaty specifically state that the Lisbon Treaty does not provide for the creation of an EU Army.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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99. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the projects announced on 19 November 2018 (details supplied) in the PESCO framework he plans to participate in; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49025/18]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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On 2 May 2018, the European Defence Agency, through the PESCO Secretariat, invited participating Member States to submit their project proposals for the second list of PESCO Projects. The proposals once submitted were then evaluated and assessed from both the capability and the operational perspective with the second wave of seventeen (17) PESCO Projects adopted on 19 November 2018 at the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council. The updated projects list referred to also contains the seventeen (17) first round PESCO Projects as adopted on 6 March 2018.

In relation to the second round of PESCO projects agreed this week at the Foreign Affairs Council with Defence Ministers, while not committing to participating in any further projects, we confirmed our interest in being an Observer on two projects: the French led “EU Radio Navigation Solutions (EURAS) Project” and the Italian led “Counter Unmanned Aerial System (C-UAS) Project”. Observer Status allows PESCO participating Member States to keep abreast of developments in a particular area.

Ireland is currently participating in two projects from the first round of PESCO projects as adopted in March 2018. One relates to the ongoing development of Defence Forces capabilities for peace support and crisis management operations; The German led "Centre of Excellence for EU Military Training Missions (EUTMCC) Project" and the second project is a Greek led "Upgrade of Maritime Surveillance Systems". We also maintain observer status on eight further projects from the first tranche.