Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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679. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the amount paid annually for the past three years to private airline companies for the movement of Irish military personnel to and from overseas missions; if consideration is being given to the procurement of a national asset to perform this function; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33084/20]

James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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685. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the amount paid annually for the past three years to private airline companies for the movement of Irish military personnel to and from overseas missions; if consideration is being given to the procurement of a national asset to perform this function; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33097/20]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 679 and 685 together.

My immediate priorities in relation to air-based capability have been the acquisition of three Pilatus PC-12 aircraft in the Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) role and for two Airbus CN 295 maritime patrol aircraft. No decisions have made for the acquisition of additional aircraft in other roles. Some €265 million, including VAT, is currently committed to the acquisition of these enhanced capabilities.

Along with other equipment capability requirements, the acquisition, renewal and retention of equipment capabilities is being pursued under the Defence Forces Equipment Development Plan (EDP) published in June 2020. This sets out current priorities and plans taking account of available resources and in line with the policy approach in the White Paper on Defence. While the option of acquiring a wider military lift capability has been mentioned, it is not identified as an action in the present EDP.Much of this longer range lift capability is provided by way of chartering aircraft through a competitive procurement process on an as-required basis. To date, this has been considered to be the most cost effective approach taking account of the acquisition, running and maintenance costs of larger aircraft in the context of their expected usage and contingency requirements. The overall priorities in the EDP will remain under review as it is progressively implemented and taking account of funding availability.

The table below provides the amounts paid for the UNDOF and UNIFIL troop rotations for the years 2017-2019.