Defence Forces
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-09
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Helen McEntee (FG), Meath East

I probably was not aware of it myself until coming into the Department, but there is a significant body of work happening, following on from the Commission on the Defence Forces, to look at what we need. The commission has set out how we reach level of ambition 2, how we increase our numbers and what type of capabilities we need. There is also other work being done to look at our overall footprint, where we need to invest in different barracks, how we need to expand and grow, and which areas we need to look at from a maritime perspective and from the perspective of our Naval Service, our Air Corps and our Defence Force personnel. Then, taking into account the reform of the triple lock, the question is how we make sure that an integral part of our Defence Forces work, namely, peacekeeping missions, can continue into the future. There is a huge amount of work, coupled with the cultural reform and change and the body doing that work. It is really important that all these aspects be progressed at the same time, supported and coupled with financing. That is why we have seen the 55% increase in our capital budget and the 40% increase in our current budget.
To come back to the Deputy's original question, once the process that is under way is concluded, a decision on the HQ will be taken.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:05+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-09