Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 March 2026
271. Deputy Robert O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Defence the public procurement processes to be used for the Defence Forces capital investment plans, particularly in acquiring military radar programme, helicopters, replacement of PC-9M fleet, RPAS/drone, armoured fleet replacement and so on; if there will be a defined European preference; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17221/26]
View answerProcurement processes for defence acquisitions are governed by the High Level Planning and Procurement Group (HLPPG), a monthly working group comprising of senior civil and military management of the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces. The HLPPG provides a joint civil and military forum for oversight and approval of expenditure and also ensures that expenditure is profiled and monitored on an ongoing basis.
The Department’s Procurement and Acquisitions Branch manages overall procurement policy within Defence, reflecting the specialised nature of the equipment profile, and works on major projects in conjunction with the Capability Development Unit and various SME's within the Defence Forces.
Regarding longer term capability planning, in early 2023 a Capability Development Unit was established in the Department. It is civil/military in terms of staffing, with military staff from across the three services of the Defence Forces, providing an overarching joint perspective to capability planning. The Unit is now well established and in the final stages of producing a 12 year Capability Development Programme, that will identify, at a high level, the capability requirements for the Defence Forces out to 2040. This ongoing piece of work, once complete, will inform the prioritisation of capabilities the Defence Forces will progress in moving towards the strategic level of ambition set out in the Defence Policy Review, and the objectives as set out in the recently published Strategic Framework and Update to the Detailed Implementation Plan for the Commission on the Defence Forces. I expect the Capability Development Programme will be finalised in the first half of this 2026.
Ongoing planning for the acquisition of military equipment is conducted through the utilisation of the Defence Equipment Development Plan, which is a rolling plan, considered through joint civil-military co-operation, and provides a consolidated, structured basis for ongoing investment in military equipment to develop and maintain necessary capabilities. This work is progressed under the guidance of the Strategic Framework for the Transformation of the Defence Forces, which was published in February 2026, the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces (CODF) and the updated Detailed Implementation Plan for the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces.
The rolling Equipment Development Plan encompasses a programme of sustained equipment procurement/acquisition across the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service as identified and prioritised in the Strategic Framework and the Detailed Implementation Plan for the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces, building on the work done under the White Paper on Defence. This is part of the ambitious programme of work to move to Level of Ambition 2 ( LOA2) by 2028, and will ensure that the Defence Forces have the major equipment platforms, ancillary equipment and force protection equipment required to carry out their important roles both at home and overseas.
The Strategic Framework for the Transformation of the Defence Forces was developed with the purpose of bringing together into one overarching document the immediate actions to be taken to support the transformation of the Defence Forces into a fit for purpose organisation, ready to defend the State and meet the challenges of today and the future. It builds on the work of the first Strategic Framework that was published in September 2023 and draws from various reports and plans in place including the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces (CODF). The updated Detailed Implementation Plan for the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces follows a similar format and style to the original Detailed Implementation Plan, published in 2023. It sets out the timelines for the delivery of the 130 CODF recommendations.
In assessing projects for inclusion in the Equipment Development Plan and as they progress through the approvals process, consideration is given to the full suite of procurement procedures and options available for Defence acquisitions, which are provided for in the various EU procurement Directives, including the Defence and Security Directive 2009/81/EC.
