The Minister assures that the acquisition of patrol ships will move forward

The defense secretary said this Friday that the acquisition of six ocean-going patrol ships would continue but be handled by the navy and the Directorate General of Resources, and rejected any war with the Accounts Chamber.

“There is no war with the Accounts Chamber, as they want to present. There is a difference of opinion, we accept the decision of the Accounts Chamber, and the political consequence is that we are going to promote the program. with the General Directorate of National Defense Resources (DGRDN) and the Navy, and it will be implemented,” Helena Carreiras said in Parliament.

The newspaper Diário de Notícias (DN) reported on Friday that the Court of Accounts (TdC) for the second time did not approve a contract that the Ministry of National Defense intended to conclude with the state-owned holding company IdD-Portugal Defense to manage the program for the acquisition of six ocean-going patrol ships.

“The Court of Accounts ruled we believe it is worth an appeal because a model that seems very important for the development of the defense economy has been at stake to rationalize the increasingly demanding management of these complex projects (…). This was not the understanding of the Court, and it has always said that if it were not for this understanding, we would naturally proceed to the most important thing, namely the development of this program, ”said Helena Carreiras.

According to the newspaper, after the first “lead” in June of this year, the TdC judges “supported the decision, arguing, in part, that the ‘violation’ of public procurement procedures was a ‘lightning invalidity’.”

Helena Carreiras, heard before the Committee on Budget and Finance as part of the discussion of the state budget for 2023, added that the executive branch will continue to acquire these ships “in the same way as it has been done in other cases, without the optimization that will result from the application of this new model” .

Later, Liberal Initiative MP Patricia Gilvaz asked the minister what “political conclusions” she drew from this leadership, saying that the ministry “failed” in the process, and especially Defense Minister Marco Capitan Ferreira, who, before taking office, he was chairman board of the IdD Portugal Defense.

On the recent controversy surrounding the GNR’s request to Frontex (European Border Agency) to deploy an aircraft to patrol the sea in the Azores, a topic that was brought up for discussion by social democrat Jorge Paulo Oliveira and communist João Dias, Helena Carreiras stressed the need to deepen interaction between institutions.

Helena Carreiras pointed out that “there are innovations in terms of the European integrated border control system” that institutions and legislation will have to “accommodate”, adding that “coordinated planning is under way between the GNR and the Air Force for patrol missions for this and next year.”