I propose to take Questions Nos. 161, 168, 184 and 188 together. The Naval Service currently has a fleet of eight commissioned vessels. These eight vessels consist of two P50 class large patrol vessels, four P60 class offshore patrol vessels, and two P70 inshore patrol vessels. The military authorities have advised that three of the P60 class offshore patrol vessels are currently available for operations and conduct patrols on a rotation basis. The fourth P60 vessel is currently undergoing a planned maintenance per…

I will indeed keep the Deputy briefed on this matter. I am very happy to visit the harbour in Dún Laoghaire with him and Oireachtas colleagues. I know this is an issue of real interest to people in Dún Laoghaire, to the people on the east coast, and to the Naval Service. In addition to the operational benefits this could well bring, there is also a secondary benefit, which is the visibility of the Naval Service to the young men and women on the east coast who may wish to join and be recruited. There is a very proud…

I thank my colleague, Deputy Noel McCarthy, and I thank him for inviting me to Haulbowline, which he has done for a number of weeks. I very much look forward to visiting it with Deputy McCarthy and with colleagues in Cork because I am pleased to say we are investing heavily in improving the building infrastructure at Haulbowline. We have had a particular focus in recent years on trying to improve the accommodation to support our serving personnel while on duty. We have spent €13.5 million so far in providing additi…

I thank the Deputy. I know that he and his family have a proud family history of serving our State through the Naval Service. I thank them and all families across our country who have proud traditions with Óglaigh na hÉireann. I welcome the fact we now have the largest Defence Forces budget that we have ever had in our country, but we have a long way to go in terms of investing in the capabilities we need, and in particular having a better understanding of what happens up in our skies and below our seas. Debate in …

Deputy McGrath knows from his own community and constituency the importance of the pride within which the Naval Service is held across our country, particularly in the part of the country where he lives because people are so familiar with the service there. I look forward to visiting Haulbowline with him in the time ahead. The Naval Service currently has a fleet of eight commissioned vehicles: two P50-class large patrol vessels, four P60-class offshore patrol vessels and two P70 inshore patrol vessels. The military…

The Deputy is right. We have to invest more in defence. In fairness, a lot of work was done, much of it by my predecessor, the Taoiseach, in terms of the Commission on the Future of the Defence Forces. That was a very helpful and important piece of infrastructure. What we do not need to do, however, is every time we try to spend some money on defence, everybody asks about funding for another Department. We do not do that with regard to anything else. If somebody says we are giving more money to the Department of ed…

My officials and I will keep in close contact with the Deputy on those issues as well. I thank him for his words of tribute to members of the Defence Forces. I am very conscious that, this week, men and women who have served in the 125th battalion in Lebanon are beginning to return home. I was in Renmore Barracks, where the 126th battalion is getting ready to be deployed to Lebanon. I met very excited soldiers, and sometimes nervous mothers, grannies, wives, husbands and children worried about their relative being …

I thank Deputy O'Rourke for raising the question and the opportunity it provides to discuss some of the various investments and infrastructure improvements that are either currently under way, or are being planned, at Gormanston Camp in County Meath. As I know the Deputy will be aware, this training installation has now been designated as the Defence Forces’ Joint Induction Training Centre. Its function is to accommodate the induction training of all future recruits into the Defence Forces. In February of this year…

I will read my note to give the Deputy the up-to-date figures. I am told that in 2024, 577 recruits were inducted, consisting of 451 Army, 46 Air Corps and 80 Naval Service recruits into the Permanent Defence Forces. As of 28 February, which is the last date I have for figures, 34 recruits were inducted so far this year. On 19 March 2025, Gormanston welcomed its largest recruit class at 72 recruits, and when fully operational, it will have the capacity to accommodate the induction of 900 recruits per annum. The Dep…

I am smiling because this is one of the questions I get asked most frequently when I go around the country. The Deputy is right that our barracks often have good facilities and communities ask if they can get in too. Obviously, there are requirements from a security point of view, but there is also the issue of wanting our communities to be familiar with them. There have been good examples. This comes up a lot in the context of Cathal Brugha Barracks. It came up in the context of Renmore when I was there recently. …

I propose to take Questions Nos. 163 and 164 together. It is a fair point. It is a matter of lies, damned lies and statistics. It depends on when one measures the point. I am going to say progress has been made in the last year and the Deputy is going to say, "Actually, if you look back over a number of years", and both could be true. The reality is that there are some encouraging signs of a stabilisation now as regards recruitment and retention, but I am also very truthful on this in that there is a long way to go…

I am always conscious when speaking to this that people who are not friends of Ireland look in on these proceedings, so as regards national cybersecurity, let all of those who look in be aware that we have cybersecurity structures in place. We have an excellent National Cyber Security Centre. As Deputy Heneghan reminded us earlier, however, there is so much we need to do in this space. The Government will consider, through its national security strategy, the overall infrastructure and ecosystem, as I think Deputy Ó…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 167, 182 and 203 together. Let me first, as we always do when we speak about this, extend our deepest sympathies to the family of the late Private Seán Rooney and thank him for his service. None of us can fathom the unimaginable pain and grief of his family. I want them to know that we think of them and are motivated every day by getting them truth and justice in relation to what happened to Private Rooney. On the UN question specifically, on 6 August last year the coroner wrote to …

I will engage on that.

I thank the Deputy for her own service and the unique insight she brings to debates in this House having served in Lebanon with our Defence Forces. I very much welcome the opportunity to update the House on my recent visit to Lebanon. A central focus of that visit on 26 March was on my meetings with the Lebanese Ministers for foreign affairs and defence. At those meetings, my first with both individuals, I left the Ministers in no doubt with regard to the absolute determination of the Government to ensure those res…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. We all agree that housing is the most important issue. There is a housing emergency in this country. There is an onus on all of us to come forward with ideas and policies to try to make real and meaningful progress for people in the country. I hope we are at least united on this. This Government has taken a number of steps on housing since coming to office only months ago, including publishing an implementation plan for the Planning and Development Act 2024, publ…

There is no housing tsar for us either.

I love the way Sinn Féin loves to laugh and joke about the issue of housing. It proposed in the general election that if it was elected to government, and thank God we were spared that, it would establish a new office to bring forward all of the different structures to break down silos. That is what Sinn Féin proposed. The Housing Commission proposed that, and so did the Government. When we got together after the election and formed our programme for Government, we said we would take on board what seemed like a sen…

That is the only decision that we have made. We have not made any decisions about personnel or pay. Process matters with all of these issues. We will continue to engage as a Government, now that we have made the decision on establishing the new office, on how best to staff that office. The overriding objective will not be personality but will be getting the job done and making sure that people who live in box rooms in their mums' and dads' homes can move out and into their own home. We are taking on board the good …

I am very on board with setting up a housing activation office and I thought Deputy Doherty was too. It is in page 98 of Sinn Féin's own plan, about breaking down the silos, bringing in expertise, and-----