The PPP is progressing. It is not a hard no. The airport is not a hard no either. The business case has to be submitted. Just earlier in the House, people were saying that we are not spending money carefully enough. My understanding is that the Department asked for the business case. It has been resubmitted. That can be dealt with positively.

I never supported progressing disability services when I was in opposition when it was first brought in in 2013. I do not believe it is working and I do not believe it has worked. I believe a multidisciplinary school-led programme should be developed with multidisciplinary therapy teams in schools, beginning with special schools. I recall a time when special schools had therapists on-site and it worked. Progressing disability services was of the view that we should take them out of the special schools and have a br…

I first thank the Deputy for his service to the country. I remember well when I became Minister for education, he was my Opposition spokesperson in education and he had an extraordinary grasp of the detail of the brief at the time, as reflected in the many parliamentary questions, both written and oral. At that time, parliamentary questions-----

Priority questions at that time was nearly a better model because the Opposition person had about three or four minutes or more per question. Ministers might prefer the present system where it is one minute and one minute, but that is what the Opposition today wants. It does not often see things through, but anyway. The one thing I agree with Deputy Bruton on is the opportunities opening up for rural Ireland and I have seen it myself as I have travelled the length and breadth of the country. Sometimes there is a ve…

First, I wish Deputy English the very best in his future career. He has been a very hardworking and committed Deputy. He has also been a very friendly Deputy which matters, as does courtesy and so forth. He gave everything as a Minister and I want to acknowledge that. Regarding the issue he raised, there is no doubt there has been an increase in the cumulative cost base of small businesses. That is a very real issue out there at present. Those various increases have all come together: the convergence of the minimum…

I also take this opportunity to pay a very warm tribute to our soldiers in Lebanon for their professionalism, resilience and commitment to their peacekeeping role. Peacekeeping is the most noble work one can pursue and our soldiers are doing it in an exemplary manner. The safety and security of Ireland’s Defence Forces personnel stationed in Lebanon remain of paramount concern to myself and to the Government. We have seen a significant escalation of violence across the country in recent weeks, including incursions …

It is a very serious situation. It is incomprehensible that Israel or the IDF would put UN peacekeepers generally in harm's way and in some incidents, as the Deputy outlined, UN peacekeepers were injured as a result of such activity. We will work in consort with the UN and with the force commander of UNIFIL in Lebanon. We will co-ordinate our approach. I believe that the international community, through the United Nations and European Union, can collectively keep pressure on with a view to ensuring those red lines …

The Defence Forces have advised that there are sufficient supplies of both water and food in Camp Shamrock as well as the availability of contingency food packs, and that further deliveries were made to Camp Shamrock over the last weekend. This is in addition to a contingency supply chain that is in place to allow all of UNIFIL to remain in place for up to 30 days. These contingency arrangements were enhanced during the summer period. Our Defence Forces took proactive action in the summer period in anticipation of …

There is a fundamental issue in terms of Israel's approach to the United Nations more generally. We might remember that UNIFIL is there as a result of the UN Security Council. In my view, Israel cannot continue to undermine UN agencies. We see what is happening in the Knesset in respect of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA, for example, which is a vital UN agency in bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza and Lebanon and across the Middle East. Without UNRWA, we cou…

In respect of the mandate more generally, the international community has put pressure on Israel in respect of the attacks and the firing on UN outposts. That is having some impact, and that needs to have impact, although the Deputy made some important and valid points. What is happening in northern Gaza is quite shocking and reprehensible in respect of the ordering of 400,000 people to leave their homes, and I will call that out myself. It is collective punishment of a people. It is not justified, and it is comple…

The Defence Vote group comprises of two Votes: Vote 35 - Army Pensions and Vote 36 - Defence. The 2023 Vote 36 - Defence net surplus surrendered to the Exchequer was €18.1 million. This figure includes surplus appropriations-in-aid of €9.1 million, which, as the Deputy will be aware, cannot be used to fund additional expenditure and must be surrendered to the Exchequer. Appropriations-in-aid on the defence Vote primarily comprise of superannuation receipts and UN receipts, the timing of which can be difficult to pr…

We have actually expanded expenditure. In terms of capital expenditure, the time procurement can take is an issue, particularly procurement of C295s. The bottom line is we are committing to a lot of expenditure, which will come on stream. It does not necessarily fall in any given 12 months. I do not accept the Deputy's characterisation of the budgetary situation. In fact, I have made it clear to the military leadership and to the Department of Defence to keep investing in the barracks, Haulbowline and Baldonnel. Fo…

Every year it is put to good use. That is the point I made in my reply. In 2023, it was put to good use. It was used elsewhere across the Vote. That happens all of the time. We are down now to €9 million out of a budget that is close to €1 billion. We need to have a sense of perspective in all of this. I discussed the appropriations-in-aid, which are receipts that come that cannot be used for other purposes. Those are the well-established rules. The more important point is we have produced the implementation plan i…

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, as it allows me to touch, on a high level, on the role of intelligence gathering for and on behalf of the State. As the Deputy will appreciate given the sensitive nature of such matters, I will not be commenting on recent media reports nor would it be appropriate for me to disclose the various briefings I receive as the Minister for Defence from the military authorities. The current focus of Defence Force intelligence functions, is to ensure: the safety and security of me…

There is a national security committee which co-ordinates all of the work. I think there are issues in terms of an accountability chain to the Oireachtas and the Government of the day. That is why there is an examination under way. There needs to be work done on ensuring a proper accountability chain and a framework governing both military intelligence and intelligence activities more generally. An Garda Síochána has a key role in domestic intelligence. Military intelligence is important in terms of external factor…

We have good quality intelligence networks in the country. An Garda Síochána does a very good job, as does military intelligence. The Commission on the Defence Forces outlined significant reforms in respect of military intelligence and the majority of its recommendations were accepted by Government. These include strengthening military intelligence capabilities; the establishment of a joint military intelligence service in the context of a revised mandate underpinned by new legislation, which is being progressed; t…

I am not saying the Deputy has but, generally, people did in the beginning. People actually did. I was questioned in the Dáil as if it was a fact.

It was not a fact.

The military authorities have advised me that as of 31 August 2024, the latest date for which such information is available, the strength of the Permanent Defence Force stood at 7,426. A table containing the requested induction and discharges figures for each year from 2020 to 2024 will be provided to the Deputy. I have acknowledged in the past the recruitment and retention challenges in our Defence Forces. To address these I have introduced a number of measures. These include an increase in recruitment age to 39 y…

I have been less than two years in this portfolio but recruitment is stabilising and turning a corner, with a narrowing of the gap, and this year may see the first time there will not be a net reduction. The figure is currently 7,426. We have looked at all the recruitment methodologies. We were not satisfied with them or the manner in which people were being recruited, and we have changed that. We have introduced a lot of reforms on the recruitment side. We want to convert more people who show an interest in joinin…