Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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82. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence when the contract for the replacement of LÉ Eithne will be put out to tender. [15213/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The White Paper on Defence (2015) sets out an ambitious programme of capital investment in the Naval Service. The Defence Equipment Development Plan (EDP) 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 replacement of the flagship LÉ Eithne with a multi-role vessel, MRV, is an important element of the EDP and is as a major capital project provided for in the Government's National Development Plan. It is the intention that this new vessel will provide a flexible and adaptive capability for a wide range of maritime tasks.

Following a public tender competition, Marine Advisors have been appointed to support the procurement of the MRV. Work on this project is underway and will inform a public tender competition in due course. The overall time estimated for the procurement and build stages on projects of this nature is generally expected to take between 4 to 6 years.