I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 4 together. The committee did a very good job. The timeline for pre-legislative scrutiny is set down by the Standing Orders of this House, to the best of my knowledge. The committee kept to those timelines and produced a comprehensive report, and I thank Deputy Ó Laoghaire and all members of the committee for their work on that. As the Deputy rightly recalls, the general scheme of the defence (amendment) Bill 2025 was published on 21 May. It consolidates, with amendments, the existing provisions of the Defence Acts 1954 to 2015 concerning the dispatch of members of the Defence Forces for service outside the State. The general scheme also proposes amendments to existing legislation to provide for the suspension of members of the Defence Forces to give effect to recommendations in the 2024 Ward report. The pre-legislative scrutiny process of the general scheme was completed, as Deputy Ó Laoghaire rightly says, at the end of July. This process provided the Oireachtas committee with the opportunity to examine the heads of the Bill and to hear from and bring in many relevant stakeholders on the proposed legislation. I am, as I have said, grateful to all members of the committee. There are very good proposals within these recommendations. I say that sincerely. I am working through them with my officials - indeed, I went through quite a number of them this week - as the full Bill is being drafted. Under the current proposals in the general scheme to amend the legislation, the requirement for a UN Security Council mandate will be removed. I again underline that the legislation in place allows members of the UN Security Council, by means of a veto or indeed threat of same, to bind this country's hands in its international peacekeeping engagement. Recent vetoes by a UN Security Council member on a proposed resolution for a full and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza last June, as well as the challenges evidenced over the summer with regard to the extension of the UNIFIL mandate to allow peacekeepers to southern Lebanon, are ample evidence of this. With regard to the latter particularly, in the event that the UNIFIL mandate were not extended, Ireland would have been in the position of having to plan to withdraw its Defence Forces personnel from UNIFIL immediately following the expiration of the mandate. I believe it is untenable, therefore, for the Government to continue with this policy. I again state my strong belief that such considerations on international peacekeeping engagement should be within Ireland's exclusive sovereign control and that decision-making on this should be purely within the remit of our Government and our Oireachtas, which have been democratically elected by the people of this country. I recognise, however, that in removing the UN Security Council mandate requirement there will be a need to strengthen the democratic oversight governing the ongoing deployment of Defence Forces personnel overseas. Therefore, in parallel to removing the UN mandate requirement, text will be included in this Bill which will require that the mandate of future operations be consistent with, and adhere to, the principles of the UN Charter and international law. These principles are being refined to ensure appropriate legal effect as part of the drafting process. I am interested in working with the Deputies on this. We will never reach agreement on the broad policy around this - I take that point - but I am determined to bring forward legislation in this area, as is the Government, and we will do that. I am, however, very willing to work with, and in fact very enthusiastic about working with, this House to try to develop an oversight mechanism to provide independent external assurance on adherence to these principles. I do not wish to speak for the committee, but from my rereading of the pre-legislative scrutiny report from the committee this week, I think the committee was teasing its way through that as well. I concede on the floor - not even concede but agree - that there is a need to beef up the legislation on that. I intend to bring this Bill to the Government shortly - the Deputies will ask me what "shortly" means, which is a fair question; I expect it to be within this year - and for the debate in the Oireachtas to begin thereafter. This will provide - and we should provide - ample time to work through the legislation, and I commit to providing that time from the Government's perspective. I want to make it absolutely clear that the Government has no desire to alter our policy of military neutrality. The amendments proposed will do nothing to change Ireland's traditional position of military neutrality, which has always been characterised by Ireland's non-participation in military alliances. Our engagement overseas will continue to be firmly grounded in the principles of the UN Charter and international law and will, of course, require the consent of the democratically elected representatives of the people of Ireland.
Sentiment score: 0.36
The Deputies cannot pick and choose which mandates they like. I have a mandate - a very clear and a very large mandate - from the people of Wicklow and I have a mandate from-----
Sentiment score: 0.40
No, but I have a mandate to bring forward legislative proposals. I have a mandate to table draft laws, as do the Deputies opposite. I have a mandate to debate and discuss those laws, and my mandate is perfectly valid, as is the mandate of every Member of this House. The Deputies cannot pick and choose which mandates they like. We tend not to talk about the President in this House. I will not do so or talk about the President-elect other than to wish her every health, happiness and success as she prepares to take office. The Deputies should not over-interpret results from any election. Question No. 4 is a fascinating parliamentary question in that Deputy Murphy is deciding to attach motives to the Irish people. We have not seen this since de Valera had to look into his heart to decide where the Irish people stood. Deputy Murphy is deciding what motivated people to go out and vote in the presidential election, a very brave thing to do. I am not sure it tallies with any evidence we have seen from exit polling information that was published by Ireland Thinks. If we want to talk about mandates, one of the figures we should talk about is the fact that 70% of the people of Ireland who had a right to vote either did not vote in the election or chose to spoil their vote. Let us talk about that as well. I would not get carried away in making decisions on the result of a presidential election, which was resoundingly won by President-elect Connolly, and I wish her every success. We are beginning to see that Deputy Murphy will attach to the President-elect every view of every policy he wishes. The President-elect was very clear in the election campaign: I heard her say many times that she would have no role at all in the substance of the legislation. She will have a very clear constitutional role, which she will discharge with distinction, as every President of Ireland ever has done. That is my first point. My second is that if we are on the issue of opinion polling - Deputy Ó Laoghaire made the point that the majority of people of Ireland do not favour the change to the triple lock - I do not have the data in front of me but I do remember seeing a poll in The Irish Times that was published only a number of weeks ago that showed opposition to changing the triple lock down and support for changing it up. I think, therefore, that the Irish people are well able to differentiate between military neutrality and amending our laws as to how we dispatch and deploy our troops overseas.
Sentiment score: 0.25
I am not sure it was a majority, though.
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That is good.
Sentiment score: 0.44
That is a space in which I am willing to and wanting to engage. I fully accept quite clearly that we do not agree on the issue of changing the role of the triple lock. I think the Deputy's position is to leave things as they are. I do not say that flippantly. I think that is the Deputy's position. My position is that we are going to change it. I am very happy to have a conversation about the substance of the legislation in terms of how we build in a degree of external oversight of the commitments that the legislation gives in relation to the UN Charter. I am very happy to do that. I am also happy to tease through the detail that the Deputy relayed in terms of the specificity of the UN Charter and how the legislation can look at that. I do not believe we can run back to the Irish people with a referendum on every piece of legislation. This is not an attempt to change Ireland's position on military neutrality; it is an attempt to change how we dispatch peacekeeping troops overseas. We would be shirking our own responsibilities as legislators who are sent here to get on with the business of debating, and who are trusted by our constituents to do that in a considerable-----
Sentiment score: 0.29
To military neutrality, which has not changed.
Sentiment score: 0.00
I would like make a point about last year's general election. This gets mentioned a lot. In fairness to my predecessor, who is now Taoiseach, the process and the policy process of changing the triple lock was advanced in the previous Government. The Deputies will remember the comments of Micheál Martin in the previous Government. When we then went before the people - Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael - we were clearly not indicating that we were going to change that position. We had only articulated it a couple of months earlier. This Government and the previous Government have been quite clear on this. I think a majority of Irish people will come with us in relation to this issue. I think they differentiate between that issue and the question of military neutrality, as they should because I am massively in favour of military neutrality as well. I welcome the recognition from the Opposition today that we are not going to extrapolate every policy issue for the next four years on the basis of an overinterpretation of the results of the presidential election.
Sentiment score: 0.27
The short answer is "No". I was enquiring about this recently. I have seen some media speculation in relation to this. I have been honest with the House. A major opportunity and challenge for the Defence Forces is going to be to secure a multi-role vessel programme and the upgrading of that. That is where the focus is and will remain. I am happy to provide that clarity. My priority as Minister for Defence is to ensure the operational capability of the Army, the Air Corps and the Naval Service is maintained and developed further in order to enable the Defence Forces to carry out the roles assigned by the Government. The capital funding of €1.7 billion allocated to defence in the latest national development plan up to 2030 represents an increase of €600 million on the previous baseline of €1.1 billion. The revised capital allocations will enable targeted progression on key elements of our commitments to get to level of ambition 2. The Commission on the Defence Forces specifically recommended a programme of naval vessel replacement under level of ambition 2 to ensure a balanced fleet of modern ships, including a multi-role vessel, is reached in the next decade. This recommendation has been accepted in principle by the Government. Preliminary work with respect to the consideration of this recommendation with the support of marine advisers is currently under way and nearing conclusion and will inform the next steps in this regard. The Naval Service currently has a fleet of eight commissioned vessels. These eight vessels consist of two P50 class large patrol vessels, four P60 class offshore patrol vessels and two P70 inshore patrol vessels. Capital investment in the Naval Service vessel renewal and replacement programme is ongoing. The programme of works for the midlife refit and upgrade of the two P50 class vessels has been completed. Two P70 class inshore patrol vessels purchased from the New Zealand Government were commissioned into State service as LÉ Aoibhinn and LÉ Gobnait in 2024. The Deputy will be aware of the challenges faced by the Naval Service in recent years, and to this end I have instructed the Defence Forces to develop a regeneration plan for the Naval Service which I expect to receive in the coming weeks. This will allow for the plotting of a path forward for the future direction of the Naval Service. It is not my intention to advance the procurement of a multi-role combat vessel, but rather to address the recommendation in terms of the multi-role vessel programme.
Sentiment score: 0.23
I am conscious when I read out the answers that a lot of these numbers and the likes are quite technical for people following this debate. I largely agree with what the Deputy has said. The replacement of the flagship LÉ Eithne with a multi-role vessel is what is provided for in the equipment development programme. It is also what is provided for in the recommendations of the Commission on the Defence Forces. That is the plan. The equipment development plan is a living document. We continue to review it. We continue to update it based on the level of funding available, organisational priorities and timing issues. The Defence Forces are currently re-evaluating all their strategic equipment and infrastructural priorities to align with the revised capital allocation they have received. The Naval Service vessel renewal and replacement programme will be progressed in accordance with this. The Naval Service currently has a fleet of eight vessels. Four of the vessels are regularly deployed on maritime defence and security operations. These four vessels are the three P60 class vessels and the LÉ Aoibhinn, which is a P71. All four vessels conduct patrols on a rotation basis. I will set this out to the Deputy in a note, but the answer to her closing question is "No, they are not".
Sentiment score: 0.10
I thank Deputy Gibney very much. The point she raised around undersea cables - we may have a question on it later - is an important one because we need to have a better awareness of what is happening below our seas. The MRV programme can do that as can the radar programme. The rollout of that radar programme is priority one, two and three. It is a programme that will start to be rolled out in 2026. It will be fully rolled out by 2028, to have a better awareness of what is happening below our waters because we would all have an awareness, a very quick and clear awareness, if something went wrong in that space as well, and not just here but right across other parts of Europe. We have an obligation to ourselves and to the global community, particularly in our exclusive economic zone, EEZ, and to co-operate and collaborate in that space. I am very conscious, cognisant and satisfied all of that can happen within the current capital upgrade programmes being planned by the Defence Forces and the current levels of operation at an EU level that are consistent and in line with our military neutrality.
Sentiment score: 0.24
On this point we agree. A key priority for Ireland and our Defence Forces, our Naval Service and our country has to be to ensure we have as best an understanding as possible of what happens in our seas, below our waters. A key priority for me is to ensure the operational capacity of the Defence Forces is maintained and developed to get us to the level of ambition 2, LOA2, as defined by the Commission on the Defence Forces, CODF. The CODF recommended the development of a primary radar capability to ensure that Ireland can maintain a complete "recognised air picture" and that this should be an immediate and top priority. There are three elements to the military radar programme: the land based long range primary radar; the ground based air defence, GBAD, systems, to include a counter-unmanned aerial systems, C-UAS; and the maritime ship-borne radar. This programme of work is ongoing and I am pleased to tell the Deputy that good progress has been made. When fully delivered, the recognised air picture will incorporate this suite of military radar systems, which will have the capability to detect all aircraft traversing our airspace, including any that may be operating with their transponders turned off. Full delivery of the programme will be complex because it needs to be rolled out in a sequential area. This has been prioritised with a target date of 2028 identified in the detailed implementation plan. That being said - and this is an important message for everybody to know - elements of this capability will be rolled out in phases, starting in 2026. Our radar capacity will increase from 2026 and will be fully completed by 2028. My Department has engaged with a number of countries, including all EU member states, to ascertain their interest in supporting Ireland to deliver this capability. Based on the responses received, earlier this year I directed my officials to commence bilateral discussions with a small number of countries, with a view to assessing options for delivery. These bilateral discussions have now concluded and technical assessments of the various options for delivery of the entire programme are very close to finalisation. I anticipate that this phase of the programme will conclude before the end of this year, with the Government decision before the end of this year as well.
Sentiment score: 0.33
Yes, we do. I take the point on the value for money or good value for the taxpayer. I will update the House once we get to the point where we place contracts and the like. Obviously, securing value for money is important. The only priority above that is securing this. That is why I think wise decisions were taken in years before my occupation of this office to put in place structures where we could engage with other governments in other countries, particularly, but not exclusively, in the European Union, which may have the ability to provide this equipment to us in a quicker manner. Speed and value are absolutely key priorities. I expect to be in a position to update the Government on this very shortly and once I have done that, I will be very happy to update the Deputy, the House and the Oireachtas committee. All capital expenditure associated with the delivery of the programme will be met from within the capital allocations 2026 to 2030, which were recently agreed as part of the review of the national development plan. We are at a critical stage now in terms of this project and, pending a final decision on the options of delivery, it would be premature for me to make any further comment on likely costs. Training needs will be determined and delivered as part of the delivery of the programme also.
Sentiment score: 0.41
The information available to me is that the existing personnel's training needs will be the priority. Training needs will be determined and delivered as part of the delivery of the programme and will encompass equipment level training, including maintenance, as well operational and tactical level training. Training and upskilling our current personnel as opposed to additional specialist personnel is the information available to me. On sequencing, obviously I want to be transparent and helpful but also respect, as we all do, the security-sensitive deliberations in relation to the rollout of any programme being rolled out to increase our own national security. Planning and preparations for our Presidency of the European Union are well under way and the phased early delivery of elements of the military radar programme in 2026 may form part of these preparations. A key focus, and a key early focus of the programme, should be our counter unmanned aerial system capability. We have a structure in place to keep the Oireachtas committee up to date and we will do that in a sensitive and appropriate way.
Sentiment score: 0.25
The first thing I will say, and I know we will all join in this, is that debates about triple locks and all that are terribly important but in the here and now there are men and women being deployed overseas. I had the honour of reviewing the 127th battalion that is heading out as part of the UNIFIL mission to southern Lebanon imminently, this month. We thank the 362 men and women of Óglaigh na hÉireann for that. I make that point because we get to talk about things in the abstract here. These are 362 men and women who are going to contribute to our very long, decades-old peacekeeping involvement in southern Lebanon. On the broad issue of recruitment and the impact of recruitment and numbers for the security and defence of the country, our programme for Government sets out a number of commitments relating to national security as well as priorities for recruitment and retention in the Defence Forces. In this regard, the previous Government approved a move to a Permanent Defence Force capability equivalent to level of ambition 2, which requires us to get to an establishment figure of 11,500, including a civilian component, by 2028. To support this and the implementation of related measures, the recent budget provided a record allocation of €1.49 billion for the defence sector, an increase of €145 million on 2025. These funds include, among other things, a provision for the recruitment of a net 400 additional Permanent Defence Force members per annum. In order to meet Government targets, the Defence Forces are making concerted efforts to ramp up recruitment. Last year, for the first time in a long time, there was a stabilisation in numbers, with 708 inductions to the Permanent Defence Force and discharges of 674. That was the first year for a long time there was a net increase, albeit small, in personnel. I am pleased to say that signs for the year to date give cause for further positivity - I was briefed on this by the Chief of Staff yesterday. Application numbers already exceed the total for last year and discharges are significantly fewer than this time last year. There are many more people applying and fewer people seeking to be discharged. We have tried to introduce a range of measures to support and bolster Defence Forces recruitment, and perhaps I can come back on them in a moment.
Sentiment score: 0.32
By the end of April, the Defence Forces will have submitted to me, and I will publish, a workforce plan that shows how we get to where we need to be in terms of personnel by 2028. That will require a number of pinch points to be addressed. We are now seeing real interest in joining the Defence Forces. We can all take a sense of encouragement from the fact that people want to wear the uniform of Óglaigh na hÉireann and the numbers this year will be up on last year because more people are seeking to join and fewer people are seeking to leave the Defence forces this year than last. We still need a step change, and I fully accept that. We have introduced a range of measures. We have increased the maximum age of recruitment and the age of retirement. We have extended private secondary healthcare to all personnel. The application of the provisions of the working time directive, subject to certain exemptions, has been a very welcome development. We have brought about increases to the patrol duty allowance payable to Naval Service personnel. We have extended the Naval Service tax credit for a further five years. We have extended the service commitment scheme for pilots in the Air Corps to air traffic control personnel. We have engaged external expertise to support recruitment into the Naval Service. We have introduced a professional structure payment allowance. We have seen a significant-----
Sentiment score: 0.28
I am very open to the idea of a specialist pay review. I said that to the Deputy on a previous occasion. We will examine that in the context of the next national pay agreement, along with the workforce plan. The Deputy put forward a set of challenges as to why people sometimes leave parts of the public service. I put forward a different set of reasons. I referred to full employment, a vibrant private sector and foreign direct investment, which provide a huge opportunity for people with skills to work in a variety of different areas. On the broader issue of pay, we cannot say it enough to people considering joining the Defence Forces that we should debunk some of the myths. I am not referring to myths put forward by anybody here, but recruit pay in the Defence Forces on completion of training, which takes around 24 weeks, now starts at €41,880. A school-leaver cadet on commissioning starts at just over €45,000, rising to over €51,000 after two years. Where a graduate joins, the pay rate on commission begins at over €51,000. Challenges undoubtedly remain, but we are now seeing a record level of expenditure and pay because the personnel in Oglaigh na hÉireann are our best assets.
Sentiment score: 0.17
I thank Deputy Heneghan for continually raising this matter since his election to the House. My colleague the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration has the lead role for cyber security and the Department receives inputs in the security domain from An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces. The National Cyber Security Centre, which, as is appropriate, is now part of that Department, is the authority responsible for cybersecurity in the State, including incident response, cyber resilience and information provision. To develop this cyber defence capability, the Defence Forces have established a joint cyber defence command. This new command will be capable of conducting the full spectrum of cyber defence operations at home and overseas, to enhance national cyber defence resilience and contingent capabilities. Additional staff have been approved to resource cyber command in achieving its initial operational capacity. Turning specifically to the offshore infrastructure to which the Deputy referred, my officials continue to engage with the Departments of Climate, Energy and the Environment and communications on the protection of Ireland’s offshore infrastructure. The Defence Forces routinely carry out monitoring and surveillance of Ireland’s exclusive economic zone, EEZ, using our Naval Service assets and Air Corps maritime patrol aircraft. In addition to at-sea monitoring, the naval operations command centre in Haulbowline carries out remote monitoring 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I look forward to visiting it this month to be further briefed and view its work. Challenges with putting ships to sea have been well documented and were discussed in the House earlier. This year, we are seeing the benefits of a number of initiatives I have overseen, such as the patrol duty allowance, with the number of patrol days to date having exceeded the total number of patrol days completed in 2024. We have already seen more ships at sea for more days at sea this year than we did over the whole of last year. The Naval Service continues to maintain a constant presence in the Irish EEZ. Earlier this year, I approved the Defence Forces' participation in the common information sharing environment, CISE. This will support better monitoring and surveillance of growing threats at sea and will help improve the Defence Forces maritime domain awareness. In other words, we exchange information with other European countries. This will be of significant importance to our maritime security.
Sentiment score: 0.40
I thank Deputy Heneghan for reminding us of the forthcoming anniversary of Senator Lawless, a man I had the honour and privilege of knowing and serving with in these Houses. He was a man that my predecessor, Enda Kenny, was honoured to appoint to Seanad Éireann. He served with distinction in the Seanad but he also served with distinction beyond the Seanad, both as an incredible businessman and an incredible advocate for Irish people in America, most particularly in Chicago. I know he had very close links with the Obama Administration. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis. We think of him and his family and the Deputy's member of staff at this time. The point the Deputy makes is right and I will ask my defence advisers to give further consideration to that. I ran out of time the last time but I did want to say that we have just announced the signing of a multimillion euro contract with Thales DMS for the provision of towed sonar capability for the Defence Forces. That, too, is going to make a big difference in terms of our security because the new sonar capability will now be used on Irish naval vessels to monitor activities in the Irish exclusive economic zone, in particular in the vicinity of our subsea communication cables or our gas pipelines. As I said in response to an earlier question, work is also ongoing on the development of radar capability. I will keep the Deputy up to date.
Sentiment score: 0.19
I thank the Deputy for his work on this and for his advocacy and the time he is putting into it. The Government largely agrees with his position on this. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, leads for the Government in terms of the private wires legislation. I will ask that he keep in close contact with the Deputy in relation to this. The Deputy is right, however. I have been briefed on this and I, too, am convinced that this assists in relation to housing, energy costs and our ability to attract investment into Ireland. At a time when energy, energy security and energy supply is under such pressure - not just here but across the European Union - we need to be innovative, flexible and able to work in a number of different directions to try to get to where we need to get to. I will ask the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to continue to liaise closely with the Deputy.
Sentiment score: 0.28