The White Paper on Defence sets out a long-term approach to defence provision in Ireland.
The decisions taken in this White Paper will influence the development of defence capabilities for the next decade.
White Paper on Defence August 2015
This White Paper sets out a long-term and forward-looking approach to defence provision.
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Implementation of a total of 95 specific actions arising from the White Paper is being carried out on a phased basis over a ten-year period out to 2025. A phased approach is necessary in order to reflect Programme for a Partnership Government and Strategy Statement commitments, the related nature of some projects and resourcing implications.
Progress to date encompasses different areas of business for the Defence Organisation, including, but not limited to, policy, capital acquisitions, HR, Civil Defence and infrastructure development. There are many realised benefits for the Defence Organisation associated with the implementation of the WP Programme that are now incorporated into our business practices.
In Q4 2020, high-level workshops were completed to advance the work of the remaining WP on Defence projects against progress made to date and a review of the priorities including the implementation of the High Level Implementation (HLIP) “Strengthening our Defence Forces” developed in 2019. In February 2021, a report on the White Paper Implementation Programme, including an update on the delivery of the White Paper and the future of the implementation roadmap was published by the Secretary General and the Chief of Staff and is available on the following link:
To address the evolving security environment and to ensure that defence policy remains up to date, the Government decided in the White Paper to introduce a new three yearly fixed cycle of defence reviews.
The first of these reviews, which are common internationally, was the White Paper Update which was approved by the Government in 2019.