I welcome the opportunity to outline and discuss the recently published detailed implementation plan of the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces and the new strategic framework I launched and brought to Cabinet last week. The plans set out the ambitious timelines I intend to set over the next year to make sure we can expand, enhance and grow our overall Defence Forces capabilities. Of course, as is the case with any plan, it has to be matched by a capital budget. Deputies will be aware that just before Christmas I published our new capital plan, which sets out how we are going to spend €1.7 billion in capital funding on our Defence Forces. This is a 55% increase on the previous capital plan. With regard to current spending, the Defence Vote increased by €338 million, which is 40% higher than 2022, from €836 million to €1.174 billion. Such an increase means that it stands to reason that the implementation and actions we need to take will be amended, adjusted and changed over the time ahead. This is the second detailed implementation plan. Regarding the first implementation plan, 54 of the 130 recommendations from the commission have been successfully completed. The commission recommended significant changes for the Defence Forces and defence provision in Ireland, which resulted in the approval by Government of a move to a level of ambition, LOA, 2 by 2028, as set out in the framework devised by the commission. We all know that our security landscape and environment has changed. We can see there are more conflicts happening across the world than there have been since the Second World War. Of course, front and centre is the war in Ukraine and an invasion by Russia that has been ongoing for four years. It is not just impacting hundreds of thousands of citizens and civilians in Ukraine but us as well. The new plan, actions and expansion we are focused on will respond to these emerging and changing threats.

Sentiment score: 0.21

The new strategic infrastructure plan and the new strategic framework clearly set out how we can be more ambitious when it comes to increasing our overall Defence Forces numbers. Our numbers increased by 200 last year. I appreciate that this is a smaller number than we would like, but I am determined that we will continue on that trajectory right across our Defence Forces. To that effect, I am working closely with the Defence Forces to make sure we have a new workforce plan in place, but also that we have a new civilianisation plan, which I will have by the summer. It is important that we have both of these because if we want to increase our Defence Forces numbers to the level that we want to get to, it is not just about increasing the number of our Defence Forces personnel in the way we have before. We need to look at greater civilianisation and greater ways in which people can come into the Defence Forces having come from the private sector bringing different types of experience, particularly at a time when the types of threats that are changing require us to focus more on cybersecurity and cyber threats. We have to make sure we have that level of expertise where we have not perhaps seen it in the past. There are a lot of different strands of work under way to help us get to that overall target and to help us achieve those increased numbers. We have already started to see progress happen because a lot of work has been done, but I want to make sure that we can drive that progress and get to those levels as quickly as possible.

Sentiment score: 0.51

I am the first to say that we need to be more ambitious, but that is not to suggest that nothing has been done. In terms of human resources, recruitment and retention, we have increased the maximum ages for recruitment and retirement. We have extended the private secondary healthcare to all personnel. We have applied the working time directive across the Defence Forces, subject to certain exemptions. We have increases in the patrol duty allowances that are payable to Naval Service personnel at sea. We have extended the Naval Service tax credit. We have seen increases in pay over the years. As part of the strategic framework, we also have a clear focus on how we can support people in the Defence Forces to increase in number and be promoted throughout their careers, and on how we can do more for women in particular. There is a lot that has been done and, to use the phrase we all know, there is a lot more to do. I have been very clear when it comes to our radar capabilities. We will have counter-drone technology by the Presidency. It is essential that we have that, and we will have it in place. When I announced the new capital plan in November, I was also very clear that we needed to bring forward our radar capacity. This is radar from land, sea and on our naval bases so that we have a complete picture of what is going on in our skies. That will be done by 2028 and that is only because we have seen the 55% increase in our overall capital budget. I appreciate that we have to get those points, but we have a clear plan. We have timelines and know exactly who is carrying out these ambitious timelines as well. I am determined that we will be able to put these new resources and technology in place as soon as possible.

Sentiment score: 0.27

I want to take this opportunity to thank the men and women of Óglaigh na hÉireann for their commitment and professionalism in carrying out their essential duties in defending our State, serving in vital peacekeeping missions abroad and assisting our civil bodies. I had the opportunity to have my first meeting with the representative organisations, RACO and PDFORRA, in January where this issue was discussed, and I hope to have a constructive relationship with both organisations and many others during my term as Minister for Defence. I received the report of the European Committee on Social Rights, ECSR, just last week. The report relates to Ireland's compliance, as the Deputy said, with the European Social Charter on two issues: remuneration for certain work carried out by Defence Forces personnel on public holidays; and arrangements for compensation or overtime. The ECSR rejected two other complaints that had been submitted on similar matters. I understand that a formal resolution or recommendation on the complaints will be delivered from the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers by the end of the month. My Department and I will give careful consideration to the report, review it in the context of the decisions reached in conjunction with our EU and national obligations. I was pleased to note that the European Committee on Social Rights also found that several positive developments had been progressed by Ireland in compliance with the charter since these particular complaints were taken, in particular the removal of the blanket exemption of members of the Defence Forces from the Organisation of Working Time Act last January. The Defence Forces has also introduced a manual system for recording hours of attendance to ensure compliance with the Act. An electronic time and attendance recording system has been procured and this will roll out later this year. For the Deputy's information, there are also provisions in place in terms of working on public holiday and compensation arrangements where personnel are required to work long or unsocial hours. When required to work on public holidays, members of the Defence Forces are compensated in accordance with the Organisation of Working Time Act. Additional or irregular hours worked by the Defence Forces are compensated through allowances and structured systems of compensatory rest.

Sentiment score: 0.27

That statement was merely stating the fact that the reports were not legally binding, but it is essential that we respond to the findings and work in accordance with the ECSR. That is something we are committed to. We have responded to many of the issues raised since that complaint was made. Members of the Defence Forces are compensated for additional or irregular hours through allowances and structured systems of compensatory rest. In addition, a pensionable military service allowance, which is designed to compensate for the special disadvantages associated with military life, such as the long and unsociable hours that many of the members of our Defence Forces work, is paid to all ranks up to the level of colonel. Military service allowance is also a pensionable allowance, so instead of getting the overtime, they get the particular allowance that is in place. I fully accept this ruling, and I am looking at what we have in place and how Defence Forces members are paid during these holiday periods. I will then examine the matter in the context of the findings of the European Committee on Social Rights to see if there is something more that we need to do. My statement was not to say that we were going to ignore the findings because we did not have a legal obligation. Of course we want to be able to respond to it. I just need to see if what we have now correlates with the committee's ruling overall.

Sentiment score: 0.05

We both fully agree that we can talk about expansion, growth and enhancing our capabilities. If we do not invest in the men and women of Óglaigh na hÉireann in the context of supporting and retaining them and recruiting further members, however, we are not going to be able to deliver on the ambitious programme that we have and that we all want to work towards. It is extremely important to understand what the issues are. As I said, I had really good engagement with RACO and PDFORRA in the past two weeks. My ambition is to work with them where issues that specifically relate to the men and women they represent are identified. A really important piece of work that has been done and that will be hugely helpful is the Value Our People survey. This is the largest survey ever undertaken in respect of Defence Forces personnel. This survey asked questions about what it is they feel supported by, what the challenges are, what the issues are and what are the main things they would like to see changed. It was not just focused on cultural change; it also focused on pay and conditions and other matters. This is the first in a series of surveys. It is very important that as we have this essential information, we take it and feed it into the work that we do and that I, as Minister, take on board some of the recommendations. We can learn from each survey. We can be more specific in our questioning and dig down into things in more detail. Again, a lot of work is happening there. It is about how we support the men and women of Óglaigh na hÉireann in the best way possible.

Sentiment score: 0.32

On timelines, the defence (amendment) Bill 2025, which relates to how deploy our Defence Forces overseas, is included in the Government's legislative programme for priority publication during the current parliamentary session. The drafting of the Bill is continuing in conjunction with the Office of Parliamentary Counsel, and publication of the Bill is a key priority for me and for the Government in this term. Only in the last few weeks, I brought to Government amendments that had been proposed by the committee and amendments which I propose to take on board. I expect to bring the Bill to Cabinet for approval as soon as is possible following the conclusion of the drafting process and subsequently progress it through the Oireachtas. I can say as well that it also includes other amendments to the Defence Act to provide for the suspension, in certain circumstances, of members of the Defence Forces, as well as other smaller matters. The Deputy referred to the Nice and Lisbon treaties. While it is absolutely essential that we follow through on what was committed to at that time, what we have here is legislation that was self-imposed at that time as well at a very different time. I have spoken already in the Chamber of the fact that we are living in a changed world. We have more conflicts than we have had since the Second World War. We have a conflict happening on European soil. We now have hybrid threats that we have never seen before. However, we also have a changing relationship with partners when we would have never seen these changes taking place before. Never would any of us here have thought that the US would have blocked and prevented the UNIFIL mission in Lebanon from continuing in the way that it has. While the mission is continuing this year, it will end at the end of this year because a compromise had to be reached. If it did not end at the end of this year, it would have concluded last year. The vote would have gone to the UN Security Council and our troops would not be there. We are now in a situation with a country like the US where we have never seen this before, around the time of the Lisbon or Nice treaties or any other time in recent history. The idea that the US or any one of the five permanent members is able to dictate where we send our troops is not a situation in which we should be finding ourselves. If the Deputy looks at the figures, once our mission concludes in UNIFIL, we will have 85 troops on the ground in other missions. When we talk about our Defence Forces and how important they are and the work that they do, people think first and centre of a peacekeeping mission, troops on the ground and the proud tradition we have. At the end of this year, because we cannot partake in any other missions as there are no UN mandated missions, we will have 85 members partaking in various different smaller missions and in work happening on training and in other parts across Brussels. We need to change that. We have to respond. We have to take back our sovereign right to be able to deploy our troops where we want to. It will not impact neutrality because the law would be very clear. They must be for peacekeeping missions. However, there will also still be a check where it has to go through the Oireachtas but also where it has to go through our committees as well. It is really important that we have those checks and structures in place.

Sentiment score: 0.14

I respectfully say that we are not moving away from anything. In fact, if the Deputy talks to anybody in the UN, they will tell her that Ireland is one of the staunchest defenders of multilateralism and of the UN, whether it is peacekeeping or humanitarian work and support. We will continue to defend that but at the moment, the structure that we subscribed to is not working. At the moment, we cannot send our troops to missions because there have been no new mandated missions since 2014. In fact, there is not even a threat of a vote because they know that they are going to be pushed back on. I mentioned the UNIFIL mission. We had the mission in Macedonia and the Yugoslav republic. Because it did not have a Security Council mandate, we were not able to participate in that particular mission back in 1999. There was Operation Sophia, which was replaced by Operation Irini, which did not have a mandate until 2016. We could not join. We had the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre, which is an international maritime intelligence centre supported by the EU, something which we should absolutely be able to join given our geographical situation. Although we are a strong supporter of the centre, because it did not have a UN mandate, we could not join this operation. We are not able to join operations we should be a part of because of something we imposed on ourselves at a time when we were living in a very different world. I want to reassure people because of this suggestion that this will impact our neutrality. We cannot be clearer; I cannot be clearer. We are a militarily neutral country sending peacekeeping troops to places where they need us most. The Deputy is right, this is at a time when the world needs our support and where they need peacekeeping troops and that focus on humanitarian support and we cannot do it. We have no ability to do it. What I want to do is change that to allow our troops to continue what is a very proud and much needed tradition.

Sentiment score: 0.22

I ask the Deputy to tell me how this is actually going to impact on our neutrality because I have yet to have someone explain to me how sending peacekeeping troops is going to impact on our neutrality. We already partake in missions. We already partake in cybersecurity. We already partake in training missions. We already partake in other missions. We are not talking about an EU army. We are not talking about joining forces. We are talking about sending our peacekeeping troops. The General Assembly is not binding, so when I say that our legislation will be very clear that we must adhere to the UN Charter and international law, it is the same as putting something to an assembly that is not binding. We will comply with it, and we will have to go through the similar process where Government will have to agree. It will have to go through the Houses and for anything over 50 personnel, there will have to be very clear report to our Oireachtas committees to show them exactly why they were sent, where they were sent and to make sure that they operated within the parameters of the legislation that would be agreed to here. Again, however, I would ask the question. How does sending peacekeeping troops where there is a very clear mandate that it can only be peacekeeping and for no reason other than peacekeeping impact our neutrality when we are already doing it? This is all we are changing here. It is not who is deployed and how they are deployed. We are changing the way in which they are being deployed because at the moment, we simply cannot. I think the vast majority of people who I have spoken to who want us to continue in our peacekeeping missions see the challenges we are facing now and see the changes that have impacted our ability to do what we have always done and actually think it is a positive thing that we are making these changes.

Sentiment score: 0.25

As I referred to this evening, and Deputy Timmins has very clearly referred to it, the world we are living in is changing. The types of threats are changing and the intensity of the threats are changing. Even the relationships we have relied on to date are also changing. It is really important that we as a country respond, that we do so in a number of different ways, and that we are ambitious in our overall desire to defend ourselves and to work more closely with other European and international partners. What I have done in recent weeks is set out two new documents. These are an implementation plan, which will continue to implement the changes that were recommended by the Commission on the Future of the Defence Forces, and a new strategic framework, which essentially sets out how we are going to increase our Defence Forces, how we are going to enhance our capabilities, how we are going work more closely with other European and international partners, and how we can protect and support the men and women of our Defence Forces and the vital work they do. It is essential, first and foremost, that we increase the number of Defence Force personnel we have. To this effect, while we have seen significant changes in the past, we have only started to see them reflect gradually in the increase of numbers, with an increase of 200 last year. I want to make sure we continue with this trajectory, so we will have a new workforce plan, which is being worked on with the Defence Forces. We will have a new civilianisation plan, which really recognises the fact we need to make sure we have as much of a wealth of experience as possible and capacity in the overall numbers. We also need to make sure that the people in our Defence Forces have a better ability to promote and progress their own careers. We need to ensure we have enhanced capabilities, and this is where the capital plan is essential. The plan that was announced just before Christmas is a €1.7 billion plan which, first and foremost, will specifically focus on how can enhance our radar capacity. How do we make sure we have full sight of absolutely everything that is happening in our skies, on our land and in our maritime space? This has been brought forward to the original timeline of having all of this in place by 2028, with a specific focus on the counter-drone technology we will have in place for the Presidency this year.

Sentiment score: 0.38

I fully agree. When we talk about threats, we talk about them perhaps in a way as though they are in the future. We have already been subject to these types of changing hybrid threats. It was just five years ago when the HSE had a cyber-attack that impacted access to significant amounts of information and the functioning of the HSE and our social protection system. We have seen it already and we know it is there. This is why it is really important, whether in our Defence Forces or An Garda Síochána, that we have the enhanced capacity and personnel to be able to respond to them. We have mentioned maritime security and the fact we have thousands of cables coming across the Atlantic, through and around our maritime domain and across to Europe. We have a maritime domain seven times the size of our island. This is why in the coming weeks I will publish a new maritime security strategy. It is essential that we are able to identify what threats are happening in our seas. It is essential that we can prioritise protecting the really important cables for all that they bring, not just data and information, but the gas pipes and everything else. It is also essential, in doing that, we work closely with more of our partners and that is where we need to focus. It does not impact our neutrality. It does not change what we are doing at home, but engaging more and having greater and enhanced co-operation with countries, whether on maritime security or on cybersecurity, is the space we need to be in. I am really ambitious that we do more in that space overall.

Sentiment score: 0.13

The maritime security strategy will ensure that we are taking ownership of what we need to do, but given the vast, expansive maritime domain we are looking at, it is important that we work closely with other colleagues and friends. It is important that we have a more permanent structure in place to be able to co-operate in that way. We are not immune to Russian threats, in the same way no other country is. We have already seen our friends, whether it is Lithuania, Denmark or Poland, have already been victims to Russian attacks in airspace through drones and through more sinister types of threats. We need to work together to be able to respond collectively. We need to identify the fact that there are new types of threats. When it comes to the shadow fleet, this poses a threat in so many ways. Not only does the shadow fleet fund the brutal and illegal war that Russia is waging on Ukraine, but they are also a massive environmental challenge. If one of these tankers that are not seaworthy should have an accident, the implications more broadly for our seas is absolutely colossal. As I have said this week, we need to look at whatever we can to act as a deterrent and respond to the shadow fleet and many other types of threats. The vast majority of people see that we need to do more and want us to be ambitious in this regard.

Sentiment score: -0.23