Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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291. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the extent to which he expects to be in a position to deal with the issues that have caused concern in the Defence Forces over the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25472/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Programme for Government contains an ambitious range of commitments concerning Defence that my Department will continue to implement over the lifetime of the Programme including;

- The establishment of a Commission on the Defence Forces.

- Support for the establishment of centres for retired members of the Defence Forces.

- Development of a new Institute for Peace Support and Leadership Training in the Curragh.

- To ensure that all enlisted members of the Defence Forces have the same access to health care as officers currently do.

- Amend the Organisation of Working Time Act, bringing the Defence Forces within the scope of its provisions.

The establishment of an independent Commission on the Defence Forces underpins the Government's commitment to ensuring that the Defence Forces are fit for purpose, both in terms of meeting immediate requirements and also in terms of seeking to develop a longer term vision beyond 2030.

Areas to be covered by the Commission on the Defence Forces include; Arrangements for the effective defence of the country at land, air and sea; structure and size of the Defence Forces encompassing capabilities, structures and staffing; appropriate governance and high level command and control; pay and allowances structures; recruitment, retention and career progression and leveraging the capabilities of the Reserve Defence Force.

- This independent Commission on the Defence Forces was established by Government in December 2020, with a mandate to report within 12 months. The Commission’s overall approach will be guided and informed by both the White Paper on Defence 2015 and the White Paper Update 2019. As part of a broader consultation process, the Commission invited submissions from individuals and organisations on issues relevant to its Terms of Reference. The Commission received over 500 submissions which they are currently analysing.

- The members of the Commission have been carefully chosen to ensure the optimum range of expertise in key areas. The Commission is chaired by Aidan O'Driscoll, a former Secretary General in two Government Departments. He is joined by 14 other members with national and international expertise across a range of disciplines. The Commission has engaged with stakeholders including the Representative Associations, Officer and Enlisted ranks in the Defence Forces and other relevant groups and have visited Defence installations to meet Defence Force members directly with more visits scheduled for the Summer.

Following the work of the Commission the Programme for Government commits to the establishment of a Permanent Pay Review body for the Defence Forces which must be consistent with national public sector wage policy. The Commission is to submit their report by the end of the year and it will be considered fully at that time.

This work will continue alongside the on-going work of White Paper implementation projects, the High Level Implementation Plan arising from the Public Service Pay Commission Report on the Defence Forces, the Equipment Development Plan and the Infrastructure Development plan, both five year rolling plans published last year, and all the other work being undertaken by the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces to ensure the Defence Organisation can fulfil all roles as set out by Government.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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292. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of promotional positions to be filled in the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25473/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The table below outlines total number of vacancies that existed in the Permanent Defence Force (PDF) as at 31st March 2021, the latest date for which such information is available, broken down into the three Branches:

Vacancies are filled on an ongoing basis in line with promotional arrangements and, in certain cases, direct entry competitions.

It is normal, at a particular point in time, for some Branches and ranks to be oversubscribed and others to be undersubscribed.For example, whilst there are 11 vacancies at the rank of Commandant in the Army on the date in question, the rank of Commandant is oversubscribed by 3 in the Air Corp and by 8 in the Naval Service on the same date. Similarly, whilst there are vacancies at the rank of Captain, there are currently substantially more Lieutenants than are provided for in the establishment and the overall number of Officers exceeds the establishment figure.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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293. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the extent to which the upgrading and or replacing of military equipment is expected to take place within the Army in the course of 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25474/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My priority as Minister 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, including overseas deployments.

The Equipment Development Plan (EDP) published in June 2020, completed through extensive joint civil-military work, provides a comprehensive list of planned equipment projects which will be progressed over five years. This plan builds on the intentions set out in the White Paper in relation to equipment acquisition, modernisation and upgrade and has been developed to ensure that our Defence Forces have the major equipment platforms, ancillary equipment and force protection equipment to carry out their important roles both at home and overseas. The current position regarding the major equipment platform projects is as follows.

The mid-life upgrade of the Army’s fleet of 80 General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) Mowag Piranha III armoured personnel carrier vehicles is well underway. This programme is on-going and continues to command significant resources and commitment of effort. The vehicle, which is the backbone of Defence Forces armoured capability, has been well proven in all its roles since the first vehicles were introduced in 2001. By end-2020, some 47 vehicles have been upgraded including modernisation of protection systems and weapons. The overall programme is due to be completed by 2023. In addition, an order for 28 Armoured Utility Vehicles AUVs was recently placed with Centigon, a French company, and these will provide a level of protected mobility between the levels of soft-skinned light transport and heavier armoured vehicles. Delivery of these vehicles is expected to complete in 2021.

With regard to Defence Forces communications systems, there is continued investment in the development of suitable network enabled communications in order to meet the challenges of an increasingly complex operational environment. In July of 2020 a tender competition was commenced for the supply of Software Defined Radios to the Defence Forces and the competition is currently underway. The scope of the project consists of two main requirements; Personal Soldier Radios and Multi-Band Handheld, Manpack, Vehicular and Airborne radios. Given the complexity of the requirements, the procurement process is on-going and is comprehensive in nature with the first radios not expected to enter service before 2023.

There is also continuous investment in the non-armoured vehicle fleet. In 2019, a contract was signed with Toyota Ireland for the replacement of the Army's fleet of 3/4 tonne 4X4 vehicles, the first of which entered service in early 2020. In March of last year, a tender process was completed for the supply of one hundred and twenty (120) new 4X4 Troop Carrying Vehicles, with the award of a contract to Westward Scania, based in Strokestown, Co. Roscommon. The first vehicles arrived in Mar-Apr of 2021 with delivery of all 120 vehicles concluding by 2023. Funding is provided on an on-going basis for the required maintenance of vehicles in the military transport fleet, both at home and overseas.

The examples given, whilst not exhaustive, demonstrate my commitment to update and upgrade the Defence Forces equipment and capability, within the financial envelope available. The National Development Plan provides for a total of €541 million for Defence over the period 2018-2022. Budget 2021 provides for a further increased gross allocation to €131m in the defence capital budget in respect of equipment and barracks infrastructure. This level of capital funding will allow the Defence Organisation to undertake a programme of sustained equipment replacement and infrastructural development across the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service as identified and prioritised in the Defence White Paper and builds on the significant investment programme over recent years.

I am satisfied that the Defence Forces have the necessary modern and effective range of equipment available to them which is in line with best international standards in order to fulfil all roles assigned to them by Government.