Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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805. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of vehicles owned or leased and operated by his Department and agencies and semi-State companies under his remit broken down by the number of ICE and non-ICE vehicles and fuel category, that is, petrol, diesel, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, electric and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15115/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The acquisition of new equipment and the upgrading of equipment for the Defence Forces remains a clear focus for the Defence Organisation. Future equipment priorities for the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service are considered in the context of the White Paper on Defence as part of the capability development and equipment priorities planning process.

In this context the principal aim over the period of the White Paper is 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. Budget 2021 provides a Capital allocation of €131 m for investment in Defence equipment and barracks infrastructure and will enable continued investment in major equipment platforms such as Defence Forces vehicle fleet. The increased capital funding for 2021 builds on increased levels of capital expenditure totalling €392m over the years 2018 – 2020.

Certain purchasing is carried out by the Defence Forces directly under delegation of financial responsibility which permits the Defence Forces to procure a wide range of goods and services directly, this includes the purchasing of non-armoured vehicles. I am advised by the military authorities that the Defence Forces vehicle fleet consists of approximately 1,700 individual vehicles of different types and configurations. There are no leased vehicles in the Defence Forces Fleet. The table below provides a breakdown of ICE and Non-ICE by fuel type.

In line with Government policy in relation to the Clean Vehicle Directive, the Defence Forces are committed to procuring vehicles that have reduced carbon emissions.

Due to the specific nature and requirements of the military fleet of vehicles and the locations where they are likely to operate, these vehicles are ICE type and will be replaced, as required, with fossil fuel ICE vehicles for the reasons outlined above. The Defence Forces, however, endeavours to replace these ICE vehicles with more energy efficient models where possible. For example, the new SUV and Troop Carrying Vehicle (TCV) fleets will be replaced with EURO 6 compliant engines which will result in a 50% reduction in emissions compared to the older EURO 3 engines which they replace.

The Defence Forces has committed to replacing the administrative fleet with energy efficient (green vehicles) as the technology allows and has committed to spend a minimum of 6% of the DF vehicle replacement budget on EV in 2020 and a minimum of 7% in 2021. In 2020, the Defence Forces procured 8 Nissan Leafs vehicles, 10 electric All Terrain vehicles and a Groupil electric utility vehicle. It is planned to procure a further 16 electric vehicles in 2021.

All Defence Forces installations have been fitted with Elective Vehicle charging points to sustain the enlargement of the Defence Forces Electric Vehicle fleet into the future.

I am satisfied that, with these new acquisitions and the planning for future clean vehicle procurements, the Defence Forces will continue to have the necessary modern and effective range of equipment available to them in order to fulfil all roles assigned to them by Government.