Our mission is to restore our Defence Forces, strengthen our national security, address historic under-resourcing, and protect our position of military neutrality.

To rebuild our Defence Forces, Labour will:

Develop a workforce recruitment and retention strategy to reach the current
establishment strength of 9,500 and then progress plans to recruit an additional
2,000 Defence Forces personnel within the lifetime of the next government.
Reform the command-and-control structures of the Defence Forces to empower
the Chief of Staff, and provide appointments for the representative associations to
the External Oversight Body and make it fully inclusive.
Increase investment in our Defence Forces to meet the Level of Ambition 2 as
outlined in the Commission on the Defence Forces report, with an accelerated
upgrade of the naval fleet and investment in primary radar capability.

• Ensure barracks and associated facilities are upgraded and maintained to the highest standards, bring vacant residential properties back into use, and work with AHBs to develop new housing on Defence Forces land for service members and their families.
• Provide suitable facilities in Dublin before the location of the new inshore patrol vessels there.
• Deploy unmanned aerial and sea drone technologies to improve monitoring and security in our territorial waters.
  Carry out an evaluation of the Air Corps requirements to protect Irish airspace and provide intercept capability, including the projected cost and infrastructure requirements.
• Establish expert led reviews on whether to transfer responsibility for the Irish Coast Guard and National Cyber Security Centre to the Department of Defence.
• Develop and implement plans for carbon neutrality and prepare for the impact of climate change on the operating environment at home and abroad.
• Undertake a strategy to encourage more women into the Defence Forces, aiming for a target of 35% women participation.
• Address issues of sexual assault, discrimination, harassment and bullying in the Defence Forces, as brought forward by the Women of Honor group, and work towards implementing outstanding IRG recommendations.

Protecting Neutrality

To protect our neutrality, Labour will:

• Maintain and protect Ireland’s long-standing position of military neutrality and support a referendum to enshrine it in our Constitution.
• Retain the Triple Lock for approval of peacekeeping missions under the UN with changes to allow for larger, short-term deployments of personnel for emergency evacuations and protection missions, up from the current limit of twelve.
• Ensure Irish air space and airports are not used for the transport of munitions and weapons of war.