Published on
Statement by Minister Kehoe on progress of implementation of the White Paper on Defence
The White Paper on Defence sets the defence policy agenda for the next ten years and is being implemented according to a planning horizon out to 2025. The White Paper was published in August 2015 and implementation of specific actions is being carried out on a phased basis over a ten year period.
Following a briefing by senior Department of Defence officials and Defence Forces personnel Minister Kehoe said “our ambition is to deliver successful defence forces operations at home and abroad. We will achieve this with agile and responsive defence policy and by ensuring the capacity to deliver through developing our military and civil capabilities. As we approach the second anniversary of the launch of the White Paper it is a timely juncture at which to reflect on the body of work which is underway.”
Of the 88 projects identified for action over the next ten years, 36 are underway; several have been completed or are nearing completion.
The White Paper projects address a broad range of areas from Human Resources to procurement and cover the whole range of activities within the Defence organisation including the work undertaken by Civil Defence and the Office of Emergency Planning.
Projects which are underpinned by the White Paper include the Defence Forces Employment Support Scheme; the Diversity and Inclusion Strategy; the on-going replacement of the Naval Service fleet and future replacement of the Air Corp Cessna fleet.
A Joint Civil Military White Paper Implementation Facilitation Team was established to oversee and track the progress of implementation using a bespoke project management framework. Joint Civil Military Project Teams have been established for all active projects, and these teams report monthly on progress.
Minister Kehoe remarked that “the benefits of the level of collaboration being propagated by the joint Civil Military approach to implementation are already being felt in the day-to-day work of the Defence organisation and will continue to benefit the organisation in both the long and short term in the achievement of better outcomes.”
A second tranche of projects are due to be initiated in the second half of this year as the implementation programme progresses.