Written answers
Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Department of Defence
Naval Service
Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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117. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if there are plans to purchase dock landing ships for the Naval Service. [46388/24]
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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My priority as Minister for Defence is to ensure that the operational capability of the Defence Forces, including the Naval Service, is maintained and developed. This is to enable the Defence Forces to carry out the roles assigned by Government.
Equipment priorities for the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service are considered in the context of the established capability development and Equipment Development Planning (EDP) processes. The potential procurement of a new multi-role vessel (MRV) for the Naval Service is being examined by Marine Advisers. Work is currently underway that will inform next steps in this regard, in line with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform's Infrastructure Guidelines.
Further additions to the EDP are kept under consideration, including in the context of the Government’s decision to move to Level of Ambition 2 (LOA2), in light of specific recommendations made in the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. The Commission of the Defence Forces specifically recommended an accelerated programme of naval vessel replacement, to ensure a balanced fleet of nine modern ships is reached by early in the next decade. This recommendation has been accepted in principle by Government.
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