Martin Daly: No decision on Army HQ - Athlone will be considered

I just want to ask if a decision has been made on the location of the Army Headquarters and if custom barracks in Athlone will be considered and would you make a statement on the matter? Thank you Minister. Thank you Deputy. Can I say just at the outset that as Minister I am absolutely committed to the ongoing work of ensuring that our defence forces are modern, that they're agile, that they're fit for the current world that we live in to defend the state and to meet the challenges of today and of the future and that obviously means not just investing in them as personnel but also in our infrastructure and that is a key commitment in our overall capital plan. The Commission on the Defence Force recommends in its 2022 report significant changes to the defence forces and the defence provision in Ireland. It covers high level defence force structures, it looks at defence capabilities, organisation, culture, human resources, the reserve defence forces and funding overall. In February I published the second detailed implementation plan for the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. This plan sets out an ambitious programme of work to move to level of ambition two by 2028 and the significant and the fundamental change for the defence forces that will be delivered across the Commission recommendations approved by government. The Commission also recommended the Chief of Defence to initiate an immediate force design process assisted by external experts with access to international military expertise and to include a detailed force design process. They've established three force design teams within the Army so the Naval Service, the Air Corps and an overarching strategic force design office has also been established. This work is ongoing with all force design teams working collaboratively to develop a force design for the entire defence forces. On completion of the force design work the Chief of Staff will submit a report on force design to me for consideration. No decisions, I have to say, have been made on where the Army headquarters will be located but it's important to say this process, and that's the reason I've outlined all of this in terms of the force design, this process has to be gone through before any decision can be taken on the Army headquarters. It's complicated and challenging work which we need to get right. We need to make sure again that if we're looking at modernisation, if we're looking at restructuring of our defence forces, that we take the time to do this correctly and that's the work that's happening at the moment. What's important for me is that any force design process will include a transitional plan with incremental steps beyond current members to the 11,500 force recommended by the Commission on the Defence Forces and again, as you'll appreciate, because this is a significant body of work, there is a huge amount of effort by all involved. It is once all of these measures have been put in place that we will then be able to identify where location might be. Thank you Minister for the comprehensive reply. It is in the context of the record 1.7 billion defence national development plan which the Government is going to invest in capital infrastructure for the next five years and it is important that it is got right. We are living in a changed geopolitical situation since the evasion of Ukraine by Russia and we will have to live up to our own defence obligations within our own national context but also within the European Union context and I suppose it's in that case where the military history of Athlon-Customs Barracks goes back to 1691, it's geographically and strategically located and it is well served by railroad and river and I would hope that it would be considered. It also has access to third level education to TUS and so I would hope that it would be given full consideration when a decision is made. Thank you Deputy and I'll refer to what you've referenced as well, it's just the significant increase in funding that has been agreed by this Government, specifically investment not just in the men and women but investment in our overall structures within our defence force system. I've myself visited quite a number in the last few months, I've been in Aitken Barracks in Dundalk, the accommodation in Renmore and Galway and Gormanson Campus in Hobolen, all of these are areas where we are seeing significant investment in accommodation and dining facilities and gym equipment and the overall environment, making sure that that investment continues also will be a key priority for me, I think it's 170 million has been spent in the last five years alone but if you look at this year it's close to 70 million that's been spent, on top of that then 13.5 million for maintenance and running costs so there is an absolute commitment to make sure that our barracks, that our key critical infrastructure for our defence force members, that they are up to scratch, that they are modern, that they are fit for purpose and obviously any new decisions for a new barracks, any new decisions about new accommodation, that's something that will have to be taken once the overall process is done but I will be determined to ensure that we have more money to make sure that we invest in any of these new buildings or any new expansion that's required. I welcome the investment in our defence capability, it has grown by 35% in the last three years and by 11% in the last year and we need to continue to invest to meet our international obligations but also to meet our own obligation as a sovereign nation and to protect our borders and the seas that surround this island and it is extremely important that we are strategic as a small country in the investment we make. It is true that we have lagged behind other countries of similar size in Europe possibly because, through complacency, because of our position on the edge of Europe but that has changed now and I welcome the investment but I also would hope that full consideration will be given to an army headquarters in Athlon which is at the centre of the country, geographically and strategically located with all the service that a headquarters would require. Gormoghan, Aaron. Deputy, what I'd say and I probably wasn't aware of it myself until coming into the Department but there is a significant body of work happening following on from the Commission on Defence Forces to look at what it is that we need. So the Commission has obviously set out how we reach level of ambition 2, how we increase our numbers, what type of capabilities we need but there's also other work being done to look at our overall footprint, where do we need to invest in different barracks, how do we need to expand and grow, what are the areas that we need to look in from a maritime perspective and our naval service, from our Air Corps, from our Defence Force personnel and then taking into account obviously the reform of Triple Lock, how we make sure that an integral part of our Defence Forces work and that is peacekeeping missions, that that can continue and that we can ensure that that can continue into the future. So there's a huge amount of work coupled with obviously the cultural reform and change, the body that is doing that work as well. It's really important that all of these aspects are progressed at the same time and that they're supported and coupled with financing and that's why we've seen the 55% increase in our capital budget, that's why we've seen the 40% increase in our current budget. But again, to come back to your original question, obviously once the process that's currently underway is concluded, a decision on the HQ basis will be taken then. For more UN videos visit www.un.org