The Prime Minister pointed out, this Tuesday, that two Government proposals are in parliament to improve the conditions of those who serve in the Armed Forces and significantly increase investment in the maintenance of equipment.
National Defense issues were highlighted in the opening part of the long intervention that António Costa delivered at the PS Parliamentary Days, which took place in Tomar, district of Santarém.
Before the socialist deputies, the leader of the executive sought to highlight the importance of the Government’s proposals for the Military Programming Law and the new Law on Military Infrastructures, saying that the latter “will make it possible to improve the conditions for providing services to all those who provide service in the Armed Forces”.
“And it will allow better management of the State’s assets that have been allocated to National Defence, which are no longer useful for those functions and that can be reallocated to new ones, such as public housing, either by the State or by the municipalities “, he pointed out.
Regarding the Military Programming Law, the prime minister considered that, “in addition to allowing continued investment in the acquisition of new equipment, there is a reinforcement for this of 17% in relation to the previous law”.
“But above all it represents a large investment in what is essential to make the acquired equipment useful. We will have a 96% increase in investment in maintenance and modernization of the existing equipment”, he stressed.
At this point, António Costa left a justification: “It is useless to have new ships, new planes and new helicopters if they are not fully operational afterwards”.
“Therefore, reinforcing investment in the maintenance and support of equipment is of the utmost importance and is already presented in the Assembly of the Republic”, he added.