From Department of the Taoiseach
Published on
Last updated on
Following Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, the Minister for Defence Simon Coveney has announced that the government has approved a move to ‘Level of Ambition 2’ (LOA2), as set out in the capability framework devised by the Commission on the Defence Forces.
This will result in the Defence budget rising from €1.1 billion to €1.5 billion, in 2022 prices, by 2028, the largest increase in Defence funding in the history of the State. This will allow for the required substantial transformation and investment in recruitment and equipment that were identified by the Commission.
The move to LOA2 will require an additional 2,000 personnel (civil and military) over and above the current establishment of 9,500. Work has already commenced on this with the recently announced recruitment campaign, ‘BE MORE’.
Some specific initiatives include the immediate commencement of planning for military radar capabilities, including primary radar and the establishment of an Office of Reserve Affairs with the priority objective of developing a regeneration plan for the Reserve Defence Force.
Following on from the Cabinet decision, Taoiseach Micheál Martin stated:
"The Action Plan we are launching today makes a clear commitment about our ambition for defence – just as our Defence Forces strengthen the nation, we must ensure that we strengthen our Defence Forces.
"This single biggest investment in the history of the State shows the government’s strong commitment to urgently support the Defence Forces transition into a modern military force that is agile, with the appropriate capability, culture and values that reflect modern workplace and today’s Irish society."
A High Level Action Plan (HLAP) that sets out the government’s response to the recent report of the Commission on the Defence Forces was also approved. The HLAP has now been published on the Defence Forces’ and Department of Defence websites[1],
In pointing to the fact that the Commission had identified an urgent need for HR and cultural transformation within the Defence Forces, Minister Eamon Ryan explained:
"In order to provide momentum to the HR and cultural change process, Minister Coveney has requested military management to progress, as a matter of priority, an open recruitment process to fill a number of new positions including 2 civilian posts of Head of Transformation and Head of Strategic HR to drive the transformation and cultural change that is urgently required within the Defence Forces."
Noting that the Commission made a number of recommendations concerning existing pay structures, Minister Coveney welcomed the fact that the government has agreed to immediately progress the following recommendations:
Minister Coveney concluded:
"In line with all elements that fall within the scope of Representation, implementation of such recommendations will be the subject of consultation with Defence Forces’ Representative Associations."
Separately, Minister Coveney added:
"The implementation and oversight structures that are set out in the HLAP are significant, and a detailed implementation plan is to be produced before the end of this year."
The government also noted the significant work ongoing in a number of areas referred to in the Commission report, including:
The establishment of an independent Commission on the Defence Forces was an important commitment made in the Programme for Government. On 15 December 2020, the government established the Commission and agreed its Terms of Reference and membership. The Commission’s report was published on 9 February this year[2].
The government has approved publication of the HLAP which provides that:
As set out in the HLAP, the implementation structures will comprise:
The IMO’s initial focus will be on developing the Implementation Plan. This will be a living document and it is intended that the Implementation Plan will be published by end 2022.
The HLAP provides that 10 recommendations will be reverted to Government. 4 of these relate to proposed changes to the Defence Forces’ structures and, in particular, the reform of high level Command and Control of the Defence Forces through the creation of a Chief of Defence (CHOD), supported by a Vice CHOD, with the appropriate military Command and Control authority of the Defence Forces.
Legal advice has been sought from the Attorney General. Clarification of the Minister’s role and the future role of the Department of Defence may be required following receipt of that advice. The future decision by Government on high level Command and Control of the Defence Forces will encompass all of the Commission’s recommendations on restructuring the domains of land, air, sea and cyber, including the creation of new Service Chiefs’ roles, the new position of Joint Force Commander and associated supporting structures.
The Commission pointed to the radical cultural shift that is required in the Defence Forces at all levels. It was particularly concerned by the evident culture across the Defence Forces which is masculine and has a limited appreciation of diversity of all kinds. The new Head of Transformation and Head of Strategic HR will report directly to the Chief of Staff and will be supported by civil-military teams to include the senior rank posts of Gender Advisor and Digital Transformation Officer who will lead a digital transformation programme.
The Commission found that while a range of enablers to support defence capability development planning are in place, the absence of a formal defence capability development planning process is a significant gap hindering the effectiveness of the Defence Forces in carrying out its the roles. A Capability Development Branch (civil-military) will be established within the Department of Defence which will place a strong emphasis on exploring opportunities for increased engagement in EU capability development and joint procurement initiatives, while analysis of green defence solutions and horizon scanning to identify emerging technologies will be embedded within the capability development planning process.
The ‘Level of Ambition’ (LOA) framework devised by the Commission for determining the level of capabilities[3] required by the Defence Forces is focused around 3 tiers of LOA.
LOA1 represents current capabilities of the Defence Forces with appropriate replacement and routine modernisation of equipment and infrastructure. While some reforms and restructuring of the Defence Forces could be implemented, the Commission found that the core capabilities will not keep pace with the increasingly challenging security environment, the diversification and broadening of threats and the growing complexity of the modern operating environment. In the Commission’s view, this level of ambition is not consistent with the more ambitious statements of defence policy contained in the White Paper 2015, leaves the Defence Forces unable to conduct a meaningful defence of the State against a sustained act of aggression from a conventional military force, and likely to require a reduced commitment to international peace support, crisis management and humanitarian relief operations due to capacity constraints. According to the Commission, staying at this level will also severely constrain the capacity of the Defence Forces to maintain its overseas commitments and deliver required levels of aid to the civil power (ATCP) and aid to the civil authority (ATCA) supports. This level of ambition would require additional defence funding of about €47 million per annum at full strength.
The Commission recommended that consideration be given to a step up to LOA2 in the short term pending the more detailed policy debate and decision required for higher levels of ambition. LOA2 represents enhanced capabilities, which would involve building on the current capability to address specific priority gaps in our ability to deal with an assault on Irish sovereignty and to serve in higher intensity peace support, crisis management and humanitarian relief operations overseas. The government’s decision to move to LOA2 will enable current policy to be realised, as outlined in the White Paper (2015) and White Paper Update (2019) and address priority gaps in the Defence Forces’ current capabilities to defend Ireland’s sovereign interests, serve on high intensity missions abroad and contribute to national resilience and security.
The key capability effects that would be delivered through achievement of LOA2 include:
The Commission identified a net increase in the Permanent Defence Force establishment, including civilian staff, of some 2,000 personnel, bringing the total to approximately 11,500 (in addition to the existing cohort of civilian employees) to achieve LOA2. Ultimately, the additional numbers would be subject to detailed design, decision making and proactive management within a future Strategic HR approach, with prioritisation of staffing leading to reductions in some areas and additions to others, across the services, on the basis of the new detailed force design and review of taskings. The Defence Forces are responsible for recruitment and are currently developing a strategic recruitment plan to realise this increase in numbers. This will be a combination of military and civilian personnel.
The Commission’s report compared the military expenditure of Ireland and selected comparator countries, as expressed as a percentage of each country’s GDP (Chapter 10, Table 10.4). In the table below, the Commission also included Ireland’s expenditure as a percentage of the country’s GNI* as the CSO considers this to be a better approximation of the size of the Irish economy, thus allowing for a better ‘ratio analysis’ for fiscal issues such as defence spending.
| Country | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| Ireland | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.3% |
| Ireland (% of GNI*) | 0.55% | 0.52% | 0.5% | 0.48% | 0.48% | 0.5% |
| Selected Comparators - % of GDP | ||||||
| Austria | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.8% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.8% |
| Belgium | 0.9% | 0.9% | 0.9% | 0.9% | 0.9% | 1.1% |
| Denmark | 1.1% | 1.2% | 1.1% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.4% |
| Finland | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1.3% | 1.5% |
| Netherlands | 1.1% | 1.2% | 1.2% | 1.2% | 1.3% | 1.4% |
| Norway | 1.5% | 1.6% | 1.7% | 1.7% | 1.9% | 1.9% |
| Portugal | 1.8% | 2.0% | 1.7% | 1.8% | 1.8% | 2.1% |
| Sweden | 1.1% | 1.1% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1.1% | 1.2% |
¹ SIPRI is the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control, and disarmament.
Notably, all 8 of the above comparator countries have, in light of the war in Ukraine, recently announced increases in their future defence spending commitments which will, if implemented, significantly increase their percentage GDP spend in comparison to the figures cited above.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which started shortly after the publication of the Commission’s Report, has fundamentally changed the defence landscape across Europe. Like other EU countries, Ireland needs to adapt to the new security reality. A mature, respectful debate about the future of defence policy in Ireland would be a very helpful contribution to that necessary adaptation and, in this context, it is proposed that the Department of Defence will commence planning for a Strategic Defence Review towards the end of this year which will enable a broader debate on the State’s overall defence policy.
The Commission made a number of recommendations concerning pay structures and the Minister intends to immediately progress of the following measures:
The following recommendations relating to pay structures will be subject to further evaluation which will commence before the end of this year:
The Commission highlighted that the Department of Defence has a significant role to play in enabling, supporting and overseeing progress of the transformation agenda and that it will also require additional resources for a period of approximately 5 years.
Separately, the department has been the subject of an Organisational Capability Review (OCR). This review arose from the government’s Civil Service Renewal Plan and was carried out by a Capability Review Team from the Reform and Delivery Office, based at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The completed report has been communicated to all departmental staff and an action plan has been prepared in the department. The report and the action plan are being prepared for publication following their recent consideration by Government.
[1] www.military.ie and www.gov.ie/defence
[2] www.gov.ie/codf
[3] In this context, the Commission defined ‘capabilities’ as “equipment and, in the case of cyber in particular, … personnel.”