Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 34 and 52 together.

As the Deputy will be aware, I recently announced that Government had approved an increase in the mandatory retirement age in the Defence Forces to 60 years, and the maximum recruitment age for all personnel to 39 years. These changes will come into effect from 29 March 2024.

The recruitment and retention challenges experienced by the Defence Forces are well documented and Government approved these increases in an effort to remove any potential obstacles to recruiting and retaining personnel. These measures are considered key enablers in stabilising numbers in the Permanent Defence Force, which remains a challenge in the current buoyant economy, notwithstanding the range of other recruitment and retention initiatives currently being implemented, and progress in relation to pay.

In a further effort to increase the potential to attract specialist expertise in key technical positions, an increase to 50 years in the maximum age of recruitment for relevant Direct Entry Officer competitions is being progressed.

Competitions for General Service Recruitment, and certain direct entry specialists at enlisted rank, are ongoing and the age criteria for these competitions will be amended to 39 years from 29 March 2024. Other competitions affected by the age increase, such as the 2024 cadetship competition, that are due to launch after the 29 March will reflect the change to the age criteria at the time of launch.

Government has also approved a further increase the mandatory retirement age in An Garda Síochána, the Permanent Defence Force and the Irish Prison Service to 62, which will be facilitated by amendments to the relevant pension legislation to be brought forward by the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. This will facilitate further flexibility in the engagement of personnel.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The strategic objective for the RDF is the development of a Reserve Force that can seamlessly train, operate and deploy on a voluntary basis, with the Permanent Defence Force, both on-island and overseas. This is an underlying message in the Report from the Commission on the Defence Forces.

The structure and strength of the RDF is a key focus of the Office of Reserve Affairs (ORA) which was established in line with a recommendation from the Commission’s Report and its immediate priorities are the development of a Regeneration Plan, in addition to focusing on general recruitment into the RDF.

A more robust and streamlined recruitment process lends itself also to the CoDF recommendations relating to the structure and strength of the RDF.

A recruitment drive for the RDF was launched last year in October 2023, which was advertised across a number of media channels.

This competition is ongoing and I am advised that the ORA are supporting the induction process at all stages. To date, work continues on the 708 live applications currently proceeding through the system, with over 340 interviews concluded, 110 medicals completed, and 26 applicants already attested.

The induction of personnel has been facilitated through the implementation of the Managed Induction Process whereby each applicant is assigned a Recruitment Liaison Officer (RLO) who maintains contact with them throughout the induction process. The aim of this close liaison is to facilitate an expeditious and efficient recruitment process from application to attestation.

Work has also been completed on streamlining the two-stage medical process and fitness testing is now completed before medicals.

In terms of the strength and structure of the RDF, one of the key recommendations from the Report is to increase the future RDF establishment strength to include at a minimum, an Air Force Reserve of 200, and a Navy Reserve of 400.

I am advised that a broad spectrum of initiatives are currently under development, to enable the RDF to deliver enhanced military capabilities where and when required in support of the PDF. These initiatives, and the enabling actions, will be outlined in the Reserve Defence Force Regeneration and Development Plan which is being drafted by the ORA. The plan,, which is to be submitted to me in the near future is due for publication early in Quarter 3 this year as per the Detailed Implementation Plan.

The Government remains committed to bolstering the numbers in the RDF and I am glad to report also that ongoing deliberations on the upper recruitment and mandatory retirement ages for the RDF are in the process of being concluded, in the context of recently announced changes for the Permanent Defence Force.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The principle of competitive tendering for Government contracts is used by the Department of Defence for the acquisition of defensive equipment for the Defence Forces. Central to those procurement procedures are EU law requirements that have to be complied with. This is to ensure fair competition, transparency and equal treatment between suppliers through the advertising of the tender competition on the e-Tenders or the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) tender platforms.

Such tender competitions are open to any company or country subject to the terms of all UN, OSCE and EU arms embargos or restrictions. There are no such restrictions or embargos in place on Israel or Israeli companies.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 37 and 46 together.

The development of a primary radar capability was one of the key recommendations made in the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. Demonstrating the Government’s commitment to implementing this recommendation, one of the Early Actions identified in the subsequent High Level Action Plan published in response to the Commission’s report, was to commence planning for military radar capabilities. The military radar programme is an ambitious and complex programme which includes Long Range Air Defence, Short Range Air Defence and maritime radar.

The Detailed Implementation Plan released in November 2023 builds on the progress made to date and sets out the planned timeline for delivery of military radar by 2028. It is important to note that specific timelines for projects for the enhancement of capabilities can be impacted by many factors from procurement strategy to external factors such as the internal defence market and the global, regional and local trends affecting it and accordingly require a flexible and adaptable approach.

A civil / military project team are continuing their work of research into various delivery options as well as consideration of approaches internationally with the objective of learning from our EU colleagues. Governance structures to manage this programme of work are also in place. Significant progress has been made to date but we are still at the early stages of this project. The Needs Phase of the project is currently ongoing to develop the rational for the project and investigate high level options. This phase is due to be completed in Quarter 2 2024. In line with the new Infrastructure Guidelines the following phases will build on the work carried out during the Needs phase to further develop the business case and complete the project design and planning. This phase will continue until Quarter 4 2024.