I propose to take Questions Nos. 68 and 71 together. I am pleased to have an opportunity to put a number of points on the record. I assure the Deputies that I have ongoing engagement with civil and military management on all matters affecting the Defence Forces, including staffing matters. I attended the PDFORRA conference yesterday discussing some of these issues. The Government has previously acknowledged the recruitment and retention difficulties in the Naval Service, which present ongoing challenges. This is th…

Immediate action is needed. I am sorry. Does Deputy Gannon wish to speak?

We can group priority questions.

I recognise that there is concern across the Chamber. If we are going to achieve what we need to achieve with the Defence Forces in the coming years, in simple terms, we have to take on 3,000 people in the Permanent Defence Force and 3,000 people in the Reserve Defence Force. That is a net increase of 6,000 people in six years. Looking at the numbers today, that looks like a huge mountain to climb. That is why the Government is going to put significant resources into this. Only yesterday, I announced the result of …

We all have a role in that. We will spend €114 million more on defence next year than we will spend this year, with the combination of the pay agreement, assuming it is supported, and the €67 million on top of that, €35 million of which comprises additional capital. Not every party in the House proposed that kind of increase in expenditure. Sinn Féin, for example, in its alternative budget, proposed a €25 million in increase in defence, including a €10 million increase in capital. If Deputies are calling for someth…

"Yes" is the straight answer to that question. In fact, we will have more money than we need for pay because we have a pay estimate on the basis of an establishment of 9,500, and we have negotiated in recent years that what we do not use on pay we can reallocate for other expenditure in defence. We have more than enough for pay. As we increase our numbers, we will have to see other elements of the Estimate increase because we can no longer transfer money that has not been needed for pay into capital investment and …

There are just a couple left if the Acting Chairman could allow me to continue.

Other projects include the development of a primary radar capability, the continuation of the mid-life extension programme works on LÉ Niamh , the acquisition of two inshore patrol vessels from the New Zealand Government to replace LÉ Orla and LÉ Ciara and the acquisition of two Airbus C295 maritime patrol aircraft. I will perhaps come back on that but that is the initial list.

As the Deputy will know having served as Minister in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, there are often a number of stage payments over a number of years for large military equipment like ships and aircraft and so on. These projects take years to come to full fruition in terms of the-----

Those of us who know the pressures on the Air Corps at the moment know that we need new CASA aircraft. They are on the way, but they take time to build and deliver. They also take time to equip in terms of the technology we put on them now, which is just pretty impressive. We also, of course, have a building works programme across our barracks, some of which I mentioned regarding Haulbowline. We have equipment such as primary radar ships, aircraft upgrades - Mowag armoured personnel carriers and so on - and then we…

I am sorry; what was the Deputy's first question again?

If we can add 400 net next year, that will bring the numbers back over 8,500, which is still 1,000 behind where we need to be. However, let us not throw our hands in the air here. We have got to start turning the tide.

We have seen losses each year now year after year. This year will be particularly challenging. As I said, we must turn the tide on this issue. We are doing a huge amount on pay, conditions, investment, certainty for the future, improving the culture within the Defence Forces and safety of the work environment so that we can, I hope, also attract many more women into the Defence Forces. We have an independent report on that. Therefore, a huge amount is happening in that regard. There is an extraordinary effort both …

-----and we will. In terms of the budget, if the pay agreement is agreed and signed off, that effectively means an extra €27 million in pay and approximately €20 million in pensions. That is, therefore, an extra €47 million to add to the €67 million, which gives a figure of approximately €114 million extra in the defence budget next year.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Defence Forces are currently excluded from the provisions of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, which transposed the EU working time directive into Irish law. However, the Government has committed to amending this Act to bring both the Defence Forces and An Garda Síochána within the scope of its provisions, where appropriate. Significant work has been undertaken by military management, which has determined that a high percentage of the normal everyday work of the Defence For…

We are now, I hope, at the closing stages of finalising how we will implement the working time directive within the Defence Forces and the amending changes we have to make to the Act to reflect that. A subcommittee of the defence conciliation and arbitration council, comprised of the representative associations and military and civil management, was established to discuss matters relating to the implementation of the working time directive, where appropriate. It is having meetings now to try to conclude how we get …

They have not been agreed yet, so the representative bodies cannot be fully supportive of something that has not been agreed yet.

That is why we have a sub-committee in place. We have asked the senior management - the Chief of Staff and his team - to make recommendations on what they see as necessary in terms of exemptions and derogations from the working time directive to allow the military to function in certain circumstances. We have an ongoing process of consulting the representatives associations, which I suspect will have different perspectives on where those derogations should and should not be applied. We do not have agreement on that…

The Naval Service, as the State's principal seagoing agency, is tasked with a variety of defence and other roles. While the main daily task of the Naval Service is to provide a fishery protection service in accordance with our obligations as an EU member state, it also carries out a number of other non-fishery related tasks in tandem with maritime surveillance. The Air Corps maritime patrol squadron also supports this role, providing aerial assistance to the Naval Service in patrolling the Irish exclusive economic …

I did not suggest anything was handed over to the private sector; I just gave the Deputy a statement of fact on what EirGrid is doing. One of the reasons we established the Commission on the Defence Forces in the first place was that I and others in Government felt there were capacity issues that needed to be addressed. That is why we have committed to spending significantly increased amounts of money next year and in the years thereafter, right up until 2028, to get to LOA 2 and beyond. Part of reaching LOA 2 will…