Stocks held by the Department of Defence at the end of 2022 were valued at just under €255m, an increase of 26% since 2017, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General's Report for 2022.
Military equipment accounted for the majority of the stocks which were held in 383 individual military store accounts in 23 locations across the country.
The Department stated that a significant array and quantity of stores are held by the Defence Forces to ensure that ongoing operational requirements are met and that appropriate stocks are in place to meet contingency requirements in line with the roles of the Defence Forces.
The report said the Department and the Defence Forces place a very strong emphasis on security and have comprehensive policies and procedures in place.
There are a substantial number of security items held in stores, including weapons, ammunition and explosives, and that access to this information is strictly controlled.
Around 70% of the Defence Forces stock is held in stores in Dublin, Kildare and the surrounding areas, while 20% is held in stores in Cork; and around 10% in stores throughout the rest of the country and overseas.
A formal review of inventory management in the Defence Forces was carried out in 2014, which resulted in the Dunning report. The report included 27 recommendations across a number of areas.
As at June of this year, six of the recommendations had yet to be fully implemented.
Among the high priority recommendations is a new equipment plan that "should be finalised as a matter of urgency".
The C&AG report states that the full implementation of the remaining Dunning report recommendations should be actioned in a timely manner.
It also recorded the examination team's visit to the Naval Base where they noted that a decision had been made to withdraw three ships from service - LÉ Orla, LÉ Ciara and LÉ Eithne - and that significant stock was held at the base to the servicing and upkeep of these ships.
The team was informed that due to the decision to withdraw the ships from service, a sizable portion of the stock held in the naval main store would now be considered obsolete.
The Department said the stock was required to ensure the ships were kept to a seaworthy standard, for safety and operational reasons, until the decision was made to withdraw them from service.
It added that there continues to be an obligation to maintain these ships to a seaworthy standard prior to their disposal.
Separately, the Department's internal audit unit carried out an audit of a specified store in November 2021 following concerns raised regarding an ordnance store account and stock items found outside of a military location which had previously been written off for disposal.
The audit found that there were ordnance component parts in the store for disposal but although they had been removed from the stock system, they had yet to be disposed of.
In November 2022, revised disposal regulations were introduced which include the requirement for two Board of Survey members to certify that they have witnessed the disposal of items recommended for disposal.
