Fighter jets for the Air Corps?

Brilliant news in the report on our defence service .Just what the citizens have been crying out for. Everyone happy to park those pesky things like health service, housing, transport and the cost of living while we hurl bundles of cash at the wannabe top guns and wannabe marine.

You mean those areas that have had multiples of funding year on year and could consume the entire suggested budget without making a blind bit of difference? Jog on.

What needs to be done that will take 5 months? The report has laid everything out on a plate, in black and white, this is what to do now, this is what to do next. We are already in a situation that any decision hanging over the DF was held up pending this report. Sitting on our hands is the opposite of what was recommended.

Indeed there is nothing at all stopping the minister today allowing the DF representative bodies having ICTU recognition, as has already been recommended by others.

Interesting type of " adult " who wants to play with guns and jet planes .

Pay may have been outside its remit, but it didn't stop them giving a good summary of where its wrong. MSA for example, if everyone is getting it, why isn't it part of wages, why is it an "allowance"? Other flaws in the pay system were also flagged. Its for others to decide whether to increase core pay or not.

That's true. None of this good stuff will ever happen unless they can make this vocation into an attractive career. I like the idea of establishing an apprentice college (which the Brits used to do)....to be able to offer candidates an opportunity to pick up a marketable skill when they exit the force....apart from soldiering skills which don't translate into a post service door opener. I'm generally quite delighted that the report has come up with such an abundance or good ideas to kick the services into the 21st century.....in fact I'm working up some good suggestions as to the future shape of all three services starting with the 12 SHIP NAVY, ( which will probably get shot down in flames anyway)....update to follow on another thread.

Anything of the 4.5 gen fighters would be able to meet our needs.

The 4.5 gen fighters will still be in service for the next 25+ years even in top tier forces, hell the USAF has just started bringing new 4.5 gen F15's into service this year, both Germany and Spain are buying Tranche 4+ Typhoons that will be in service for 25+ years, France is still upgrading the Rafale. The next gen European fighter won't be entering service till 2040+. Even assuming the most aggressive Irish FP imaginable any fighters would be used in the common usage right now (ie either patrols or bombing things that can't threaten them).

Forget an extra 400m, if RTE's Mícheál Lehane is right, who thinks it might end up with €100m extra annually, so Option 1.

https://www.rte.ie/news/analysis-and-comment/2022/0209/1278809-defence-report-analysis/

Oh I agree, but that might not mean the politicians listen to the Commission, I mean Coveney said that Option 2 was a "huge ask", €400m, a huge ask??

It's a huge ask because for every extra million spent on defence you will get cries of "we can build X houses", "hire X nurses/teachers etc".

The problem will be those voices drowning out those advocating for the increase. Just look at Twitter and the number of idiots who think we just need neutrality to be safe.

If we had jets to scramble, and a radar system to inform them it’s time to scramble, and pilots and ground crews sufficiently skilled to operate them, what would they scramble to do? Unlikely they’d shoot at any other country’s planes so what’s the practical benefit in having them?

For me the first question is not what else might be more deserving of the expenditure, it’s is there a practical benefit from spending it on better planes or more soldiers?

Some of whom are TDs

yes its called being in the army.

it's time as a nation to grow up and start spending real money on our defense force so they can be much much more effective.

plenty of money for the other issues, it's management that is the reason why they aren't being sorted effectively.

nobody, nato/britain/america are going to bother helping a country who can't be bothered to even make an effort to insure they have some sort of defense capabilities should we ever need it.