The government is expected to agree the terms of the revised Defence White Paper today after further changes giving the Defence Forces back all money saved from further redundancies.
The Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, yesterday agreed that all £25 million of annual savings from personnel cuts should go towards buying equipment for the Defence Forces. Civil servants had previously proposed that only half the savings should go towards equipment, with the rest returning to the Exchequer.
The decision is expected to mean the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, can proceed with the purchase of two medium-lift helicopters to give the Air Corps greater search and rescue capacity.
According to military sources, the Minister is expected to place orders for two French-manufactured Cougar helicopters, which are capable of working for long periods in severe weather. These aircraft will replace the smaller Air Corps Dauphin helicopters.
Together with the purchase of 40 armoured personnel carriers for the Army, the purchase of the helicopters marks a major step forward in the re-equipping of the Defence Forces. There had been major concerns among military management that if the Defence White Paper had gone ahead in its first draft form it would have cause serious downgrading of the military and a decline in morale.
It is understood that after claims last week that the Chief of Staff, Lieut Gen Dave Stapleton, was considering resignation, the Government agreed to major changes in the White Paper. As a result, proposed cuts of 1,000 were reduced to 750 and the military was given control over recruitment and procurement of equipment. Also, the Government undertook not to impose any further cuts in the Defence Forces for at least 10 years.
The revised White Paper will be launched this afternoon at Government buildings. Miriam Donohoe adds: The Opposition will today condemn Mr Smith for his handling of the White Paper.
Fine Gael and Labour have joined to table a joint motion in the Dail criticising Mr Smith's approach and the overall failure of the Government to grasp the opportunity to develop and shape the Defence Forces in the context of foreign policy development.
The Fine Gael Defence spokeswoman, Mrs Frances Fitzgerald, said in preparing the White Paper the Minister had failed to face up to the State's international defence obligations and commitments in a realistic way.
The debate on the motion begins today and will conclude with a vote tomorrow night.