Sir, - Despite being one of the few non-military contributors to The Irish Times with a longstanding interest in defence matters, Kevin Myers's Irishman's Diary of May 20th requires a response on a number of fronts.
The recently published White Paper on Defence addresses or describes actual implementation of most of the relevant matters raised. He criticises the Department for seeking to undertake its business within the resources that the Irish taxpayer, through the democratic process, has seen fit to allocate (rather than seeking to expand these in a self-serving way). Defence spending at some £600m per annum is not large in comparison to many other countries but these resources have to come from the same pool of money which funds equally important programmes for education, health, infrastructure etc. Also other countries' approaches are guided by their own individual historical, industrial or geographical factors. Notwithstanding, we continue to make a very significant contribution to international peacekeeping under a UN mandate and it is the intention that this should continue whether this be in a European context or further afield.
Mr Myers implicitly recognises that the pattern of peacekeeping has seen a shift towards a reliance on heavier equipment. The White Paper seeks to address this by ensuring the right balance between pay and non-pay expenditure providing, in addition to existing equipment programmes, a further £250m for new equipment and infrastructure. Among other things, some £25m will be available over the next three years for light infantry tactical vehicles, modern effective anti-armour weapons, night vision equipment, engineer equipment and medical field equipment.
The White Paper also makes clear that personnel are key to maintaining an organisation in which people are proud to serve. The White Paper sets out an agenda of items as part of an integrated personnel management plan. Among the items, which will represent a significant change, is the goal of seeing a younger officer cadre, so that we do for example, see some lieutenant colonels in their 30s. - Yours, etc.,
John Nolan, Press Officer, Department of Defence, Infirmary Road, Dublin 7.