Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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321. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the mechanisms in place in her Department to ensure delivery on the commitments in the Programme for Government; the civil servant specifically responsible for overseeing such delivery; the measures that are used to assess progress; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38809/26]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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My Department has a number of mechanisms in place to ensure delivery and assess progress on commitments in the Programme for Government 2025 - Securing Ireland’s Future. These include the Department of Defence and Defence Forces Strategy Statement 2025-2028, the Strategic Framework for the Transformation of the Defence Forces 2026, the Updated Detailed Implementation Plan for the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces (February 2026), the annual business planning process and the Department's Annual Reports.

The Secretary General of the Department of Defence is responsible for overseeing delivery of relevant commitments in the Programme for Government.

The Department of Defence and Defence Forces Strategy Statement 2025-2028 underpins all the work of my Department, as it sets out the Department's mandate, as well as the separate but necessarily interlinked missions, visions and roles of the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces for achieving our shared Strategic Level of Ambition. This document specifically outlines the Programme for Government Commitments in which my Department plays a leading or supporting role, and it is these commitments that inform the strategic goals against which my Department measures progress.

As the Deputy will be aware, many of the commitments made in the Programme for Government relate to recommendations and actions contained in the Updated Detailed Implementation Plan for the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces and/ or the Strategic Framework for the Transformation of the Defence Forces 2026. The reporting and oversight arrangements for the progress of all actions taken under these two crucial frameworks are managed by the Change Management Office in my Department and the Transformation Management Office of the Defence Forces. In line with the updated documents published in February of this year, I will receive quarterly progress reports for all actions covered by the DIP and the Strategic Framework, the first of which is due next month.

Business Planning across my Department is another important component of the measurement of our progress against our Programme for Government commitments. The business planning process links the planned actions of each unit and branch across the Department to the underpinning policy framework, with the objective of providing insight to the Management Board of the progress that is being made, and if there are any obstacles to achieving our stated goals.

My Department also sets out its key achievements in its annual reports. These achievements are inextricably linked to the priorities set out in the Strategy Statement, and the defence-related commitments under the Programme for Government.