Vol. 993 Wednesday, No. 7 3 June 2020 DÍOSPÓIREACHTAÍ PARLAIMINTE PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES DÁIL ÉIREANN Minute’s Silence for Victims of Racism � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 673 03/06/2020A00700Covid-19 (Defence): Statements � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 673 03/06/2020EE00100Covid-19 (Rural and Community Development): Statements � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 700 03/06/2020KKK00100Covid-19 (Foreign Affairs and Trade): Statements � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 730 03/06/2020NNNN00100Covid-19 (Transport, Tourism and Sport): Statements� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 759 DÁIL ÉIREANN Dé Céadaoin, 3 Meitheamh 2020 Wednesday, 3 June 2020 Chuaigh an Ceann Comhairle i gceannas ar 12 p�m� Paidir. Prayer. Minute’s Silence for Victims of Racism 03/06/2020A00200An Ceann Comhairle: Yesterday, the Business Committee, on foot of a proposal from the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Madigan, decided we should have a further minute’s silence today as a demonstration of our abhorrence and rejection of racism and as an indication of our solidarity with and respect for all those people internationally who have died on foot of vile racist attacks� Members rose. 03/06/2020A00400An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business 03/06/2020A00500An Ceann Comhairle: I remind Members that the House has agreed, for the duration of the Covid-19 emergency only, that the rapporteur’s report shall not be read out but should be taken as read� Accordingly, I will proceed to put the two proposals for this week’s business to the House� Is the proposal for dealing with Wednesday’s business agreed to? Agreed� Is the proposal for dealing with Thursday’s business agreed to? Agreed� I thank the Deputies for their co-operation� 03/06/2020A00700Covid-19 (Defence): Statements 03/06/2020A00800An Ceann Comhairle: That leads us immediately to No� 4 on the agenda, which is a state- ment by the Minister of State for Defence on Covid-19, followed by questions and answers� I call the Minister of State, Deputy Kehoe, to make his opening statement� 03/06/2020A00900Minister of State at the Department of Defence (Deputy Paul Kehoe): I welcome this opportunity to update Deputies on the response of the defence sector to Covid-19� At the outset, 673 Dáil Éireann I express my deepest condolences to all who have lost loved ones during this pandemic and I wish a full recovery to all those fighting the coronavirus. I will outline the contribution made by the defence sector as part of the overall response of the State to this terrible disease� The collective response of the defence organisation involves personnel of the Permanent Defence Force, members of the Reserve, Civil Defence volunteers, civil servants and civilian employees within my Department� At an early stage in the response to Covid-19, a Defence Forces joint task force was established in McKee Barracks� The joint task force is co-ordinating the Defence Forces supports during the response to Covid-19, with the priority on supports to the HSE� The contribution of the Defence Forces to our national response includes helping the HSE with contact tracing, engineering support, the fitting of temporary facilities for the agency, such as in Citywest, and operating the new testing centre in the Aviva Stadium on the agency’s be- half� In addition, they have provided tentage for and marshalled HSE testing sites, transported tests to Germany, collected personal protective equipment, PPE, from 150 cargo flights and taken responsibility for the storage and distribution of PPE for the HSE� The Defence Forces also support the National Ambulance Service and its crews� From 20 March to 29 May, the Defence Forces have undertaken more than 21,000 troop taskings, with the overall commitment of Defence Forces personnel totalling 55,000 taskings, including an average of 446 personnel on standby each day� We should not forget that during the Covid-19 crisis the Defence Forces have continued to fulfil other roles and provide support. Explosive ordnance teams have responded to 35 call-outs, the emergency aeromedical service, EAS, has carried out 117 missions, the inter-hospital transfer service has provided 17 lifesaving transport missions and the Air Corps has provided firefighting support to combat gorse fires in counties Wicklow, Kildare and Laois. The Air Corps conducted 15 military transport flights to and from missions abroad involving the movement of personnel, equipment and PPE� The Na- val Service continues to patrol our seas� Most important, the Defence Forces have maintained more than 500 members on overseas missions on behalf of the United Nations� I wish to commend every member of the Reserve and Permanent Defence Forces who has contributed to this effort. The Government and the public deeply appreciate their efforts in supporting our national response. These efforts are supported by a substantial programme of investment in equipment and infrastructure projects that sustain the capability of the Defence Forces� For example, my Department has committed more than €250 million to acquire six new planes for the Air Corps. The first of these PC-12 fixed-wing utility aircraft, acquired by the Department from Pilatus Aircraft Limited, Switzerland, for €5�2 million, including VAT, has been used to transport Covid tests to and from Germany� Deputies will be aware that the Covid pandemic has impacted on overseas deployments� Neither the troubled zones in question nor those charged by the UN with keeping the peace there have been immune to Covid-19� To safeguard local populations and peacekeepers, on 5 April the Secretary-General of the United Nations suspended the rotations of 100,000 peacekeepers in 39 missions until after 30 June� I am pleased to state that all of our rotations have been com- pleted� In the case of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, mission, the UN granted us an exemption that allowed our troops to rotate before the end of June deadline� As I stated, I recognise the impact of the delay on members of the Defence Forces and their families� I hope the exemption we negotiated with the UN brings greater certainty in respect of the dates it provided. I wish to thank it and all others involved for their help. I wish to confirm that the 674 3 June 2020 two officers who were stationed in the Congo returned to Ireland at the weekend. The focus on Covid has impacted on Defence Forces recruitment and resulted in changes to training and work practices. I can confirm that the current strength of the Defence Forces is 8,485� This is lower than planned� The ability of the Defence Forces to induct and train recruits has been severely impacted by the Covid-19 situation. Inductions in the first months of 2020 were postponed� Some 160 extra general recruits were expected to have inducted by now� The Defence Forces are currently finalising a revised training schedule to take account of public health guidelines� Covid-19 will continue to have an unprecedented impact on the number that can be inducted and trained at any one time and, as a result, on the rate at which the strength of the Defence Forces will increase during this period� There is increased interest in careers in the Defence Forces, as borne out by the level of ap- plications for all recruitment competitions, of which there have been 13 so far this year� For example, the number of general service recruitment applications, at 2,994, is above anticipated for this point of the year� The number of applications for Air Corps apprenticeships has also in- creased significantly over the past year. It is worth noting that overall officer numbers are close to full establishment figure. There are vacancies in some areas or ranks and excess in others. Gaps in particular areas, such as a shortage of pilots, are being addressed� I am pleased to report that more than 600 applications have been received under the new scheme for re-entry. Some 500 have gone forward for further assessment by the Chief of Staff. In excess of 35 applications have also been received in regard to the re-commissioning scheme for PDF officers. I anticipate receiving the recommendation of the Chief of Staff shortly in re- gard to the first batch of re-entrants. The contribution to be made by such experienced enlisted personnel and officers will, I believe, assist in addressing capability gaps. Despite the demands and constraints arising from Covid-19, work has continued on the Government’s high-level plan, Strengthening our Defence Forces� While some projects are taking longer than anticipated, a number have been significantly progressed to date. Any man- agement quotas arising from these finalised reports fall within the scope of representations and will be discussed with the representative associations, RACO and PDFORRA, as appropriate� I would like to thank the civil and military staff undertaking this work for all their efforts to date. In terms of additional expenditure, and in common with other Votes, the Covid-19 response has placed essential, additional and unforeseen expenditure demands on my Department across a wide range of areas� To date, some €10�8 million has been spent by the Department of De- fence in responding to Covid-19-related issues� This expenditure includes, as I mentioned earlier, €5�2 million towards the acquisition