I am asking a straight question. Does the Deputy think we should have an arms industry?

I do not have responsibility for this organisation, but I will seek further information for the Deputy.

The Deputy already had the information. He named names. He asked a question to which he already had the answer.

The Deputy made declaratory statements about an arms industry. It seems to me that his position is that we should not procure any weapons and the arms industry is a shadowy operation. I do not know how we are going to defend ourselves-----

-----if we do not buy any guns, ships, airplanes or anything like that.

I have been Minister for Defence for over a year. I am determined to establish a tribunal of inquiry, on foot of the independent review group. The Government recently approved the terms of reference for a tribunal of inquiry, pursuant to the provisions of the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921. The tribunal will examine the effectiveness of the complaints processes in the Defence Forces concerning workplace issues relating to discrimination, bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct and the u…

I made it clear in the Dáil on numerous occasions that the terms of reference cover anybody who did not make a formal complaint to the complaints processes coming before the tribunal and that people can have their issues addressed. In terms of why they would not have, many people felt they were deterred by the complaints processes which existed. Within a week or two, I hope to be in a position to sign the statutory instrument to sort out all of the legal rates. The judge will appoint a backup team and so on. We hav…

They were. We can go back to that.

Again, there is no ambiguity, nor should there be any, in respect of that issue. I made that abundantly clear at the time the relevant motions came before the House. The issues being covered by the tribunal are very serious, but we have already acted in respect of many of the recommendations of the independent review group, whose conclusions were quite shocking. Any incident of sexual assault or abuse is now immediately referred to An Garda Síochána. We took that decision very quickly in the aftermath of the indepe…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 9 together. I am advised that my Department has had no engagement with the Israel Defense Forces or other Israeli state bodies since January 2023. Similarly, the Defence Forces have had no engagements during this timeframe, save any arising as part of an overall deployment of the 12 Defence Forces officers serving with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization, UNTSO, mission. Three officers are based in UNTSO headquarters in Jerusalem, with a further officer based in …

First, Deputy Carthy's point relates to a later question, if I am not mistaken.

I am referring to the point about training. It is a United Nations training programme, and we do not get to choose which members of the United Nations get to participate on a United Nations training programme. That was the situation there. The Deputies can colour these positions and put a sort of a spin on them, but my understanding is clear that members of-----

I am just making the point it is open to countries to apply if there are United Nations training programmes. We do not get to decide who is or is not a member of the United Nations, although we can have a say in it if there are votes and so on. To respond to Deputy Ó Snodaigh, again, the trade law is there with respect to public procurement and tendering. I certainly have reservations in respect of Israel generally in terms of the arms industry and procurement but there is the broader context of the UN, the OSCE an…

Again, the principle of competitive tendering for Government contracts is used by the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces. Deputy Carthy knows that and Deputy Ó Snodaigh knows that. It is an EU law requirement and is in accordance with the defence and security directive. I do not know whether the Deputies are saying explicitly that we should simply break the law-----

They said we should campaign. I do not think we are in a position to do that, although we have written to the EU with Spain. Ours are the two countries in the EU that have written to the EU in respect of the trade association agreement with Israel, and Ireland has said we want a review and examination of that in the context of our view on Israel's non-compliance with the human rights clauses within that trade association agreement. We are campaigning in respect of this issue. We are using every mechanism we have av…

I thank the Deputy for his question. I appreciate his ongoing commitment to issues at Portlaoise Prison and the work he continues to do. The Deputy will be aware that the Department of Justice and An Garda Síochána have primary responsibility for the internal security of the State. Among the roles assigned to the Defence Forces in the White Paper on Defence is the provision of aid to the civil power, ATCP, which, in practice, means to assist An Garda Síochána when requested to do so. At the direction of the Governm…

I take the Deputy's point. That is why I have acted on this. A deployment of 50 personnel was traditionally in situ at any given time, with a resource commitment of 100 personnel in total accounting for those resting or on stand-by. The current resource commitment is 16 personnel. Any resources released by the step-down in commitment will be redeployed into regenerational capacities and capabilities across the Defence Forces. There are now expected to be substantial savings arising from the reduced deployment of pe…

As I said to the Deputy, the traditional resource commitment of 100 personnel is now down to 16. I have instructed that there be a further phased reduction. There has been a substantial reduction in line with the security assessment and in consultation with the Department of Justice, following recommendations from the Commission on the Defence Forces. I am conscious, since I met the Deputy, of the issues and I have spoken with my officials about this issue. We intend that the prison authorities should ultimately be…

The White Paper on Defence sets the defence policy framework out to 2025 and covers all aspects of defence within the broader security policy framework. Since publication of the White Paper in 2015, a total of 95 separate projects were identified for completion over a ten-year period. Project and programme management governance arrangements were put in place to monitor the ongoing status of projects and to review the scope of projects within the programme. Implementation of the White Paper programme has progressed …

The strategic framework on the transformation of the Defence Forces, which I published in September, is the overarching document and our focus is on implementing that in accordance with the timelines that have been set within that framework. We need one clear overarching document. That covers all aspects, both of the Commission on the Defence Forces and the independent review group recommendations pertaining to culture within the Defence Forces also. That said, a White Paper programme status report is currently bei…