Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As a former member of the Defence Forces, I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important Bill. On the back of key recommendations of the Independent Review Group on Dignity and Equality Issues in the Defence Forces and the statutory inquiry into systemic failures in dealing with individual complaints, including sexual misconduct, the creation of an external oversight body was recommended, on a non-statutory basis initially, to increase transparency and accountability and drive necessary culture changes throughout the Defence Forces. That is exactly what we are trying to achieve with this Bill, which contains a significant programme of reform and culture changes delivered by external experts, with measures to eradicate reprisals and retaliation, and develop new policies on gender, inclusion and diversity. We want a career in the Defence Forces to be one where every individual feels valued, respected and recognised for the positive contribution they are making to the country’s security.

Ireland's vulnerability has been continually highlighted by security experts in recent times. In 2022, the Commission on the Defence Forces made a series of recommendations to address the capability, staffing and structural gaps in Ireland’s armed forces. This is because in previous years there were glaring gaps in Ireland's defence as Defence Forces numbers fell to 7,500. These historically low numbers are a reflection of the slow pace of implementing recommended reforms. For example, in 2021, a total of 591 personnel left the Defence Forces due to inadequate pay, pensions and conditions, many of them before the mandatory retirement age. There were just 300 recruits in that year. The numbers leaving the Defence Forces exceeded the numbers of recruits year on year, resulting in a continued decline in overall strength levels. PDFORRA, which represents enlisted personnel, has continuously highlighted the exodus for more than ten years, yet little or nothing substantial has been done to address it. Additionally, the age to which Defence Forces personnel served was lower than other public service groups.

Numerous times in this House I have raised the ludicrous situation within the military whereby experienced officers and enlisted personnel were being forced to retire early. They say in business it is easier to retain than acquire. Retaining experienced, valuable privates and corporals who are willing to stay despite the aforementioned issues is a key enabler in strengthening Defence Forces capability.

The Public Service Pay Commission, in its report on recruitment and retention in the Permanent Defence Force in 2019, recommended considering options to tackle barriers to extended participation in the Defence Forces. A joint civil-military review was completed in 2021. The report of the review group made a number of recommendations for extended service limits across a number of ranks in the Defence Forces. In March, having raised the issue numerous times, I was delighted that the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence, Deputy Micheál Martin, announced the mandatory retirement age in the Reserve Defence Force and Permanent Defence Force was being raised to 60 for personnel with a current mandatory retirement age of under 60 and also a further increase in the mandatory retirement age for the Permanent Defence Force to 62 years. The retention of personnel will be subject to certain criteria, including appropriate medical and fitness tests, which are set out in the Bill. Maximum recruitment ages are also being increased from 26 to 39 years. These actions are all welcome and will allow existing personnel, who are the backbone of the Defence Forces, to enjoy career longevity while also being able to pass on invaluable experience and organisational knowledge to new recruits, which will facilitate continuity and lead to an enhanced training experience for new recruits.

It is essential that the Defence Forces recruit, retain and develop skilled personnel and key specialists for the future. A vital element of this will be the regeneration and development of a Reserve Defence Force that can seamlessly train, operate and deploy on a voluntary basis with the Permanent Defence Force, both here and overseas.

This Bill also allows for the re-enlisting of highly qualified former members, such as privates and NCOs, to fill specialist appointments in areas such as the Army bomb disposal unit and Naval Service technicians. This is the latest attempt to help reverse the exodus of personnel from the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps. This reflects the situation we find ourselves in and the fact that people want to stay on in their chosen career for longer. While this is all welcome in terms of retention, there are wider issues in respect of inadequate pay, pensions and conditions, whereby many do not see the Defence Forces as being a viable lifetime career. There are more things we could be doing internally to improve the offer and make it more attractive for people.

The enactment of this Bill will give effect to associate membership of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, which is imperative with respect to pay negotiations and restoring oversight to the Defence Forces, which was removed by the Department of Defence in 2018.

This will make a real difference to the retention of Defence Forces personnel especially regarding pay, conditions and work-life balance.

The key resource of the Defence Forces is its people. Therefore, people are the number one priority. A huge factor in personnel shortages is likely burnout due to worsening personnel shortages. Soldiers are being forced to go on overseas deployments far more regularly and vacant roles are being filled through mandatory selection, which is the term used for ordering troops to go on an overseas deployment. Yet, a failure to provide adequate rest and compensatory time off to military personnel has significantly impacted their home life and the ability of many to sustain a career in the Defence Forces. Having spoken to various personnel in Aiken Barracks in Dundalk, they acknowledge that much important work is being done to implement the recommendations of the commission and they are starting to see more green shoots of recovery. Not all members, however, have bought into the transformation effort and this will require the Government listening to members' voices to ensure buy in rather than sidelining it.

For example, as we go down into the details of the Bill, it would be remiss of me not to mention that members and numerous representative associations have expressed concerns about certain language in the legislation. It is generally accepted that military members do not publicly criticise Government policy on matters such as missions overseas or troop deployment. Under the Constitution, all citizens have a right to freely express their opinions and convictions while that is limited in certain interests in respect of public order. The Defence Forces would recognise that. However, issues that impact Defence Forces members such as pay and working conditions have been fair game for representative associations in the past. Therefore, the most controversial provision within this Bill is the provision that would ban Defence Forces members from commenting on any political matter for fear of being sanctioned for doing so. Further, members should not canvass on behalf of, or collect contributions for, any political organisation or a group seeking to influence Government policy. The ambiguous wording leaves members quite unsure as to the extent to which they can question Government policy or directions. EUROMIL, the European Organisation of Military Associations and Trade Unions, which represents 38 military associations in 23 European countries, has joined Irish military representative bodies, RACO and PDFORRA in criticising the Bill on this wording. Major question marks remain over the extent to which these provisions could be utilised to censure and discipline a member. Consider, for example, members who take part in activities outside their duty that may be aligned to political affairs, hypothetically speaking, given that most sporting organisations at some point seek to influence Government policy. In fact, nearly all interest groups at some point seek to influence Government policy. The Defence Forces have always known they cannot have membership of a political party, but the phrase in the general scheme of the Bill “or a grouping seeking to influence government policy” is a very broad remit. Will this wording diminish their ability to participate in civic society? These questions need to be looked at and considered because it is causing a grievance with members and associations and is potentially affecting recruitment.

If enacted, this legislation will have a catastrophic impact on Defence Forces' morale and retention. Low recruitment may also be a reflection of the fact that despite the commitment to increase defence spending, and the fact that it is being hailed as a record capital spend, it is coming from a very low base. Ireland's spending on defence is one of the lowest in Europe. Additional investment in the Defence Forces is crucial for Ireland's neutrality. Admittedly Ireland, a traditionally neutral country, faces new threats that were not considered at the time of its neutrality, which prompts debate on modernising its long-held neutrality policy. The international security environment has changed significantly over the last year. There has been blatant disregard of international law and Europe's collective security architecture, bringing war to the European Continent. Over the past years, Ireland has been targeted by malign activity, including the large cyber-attack on our health services during the pandemic. We do need to start looking at how better to defend ourselves against all sorts of hybrid threats. From the outset, it is clear that our neutral status is not a simple binary position, but a complex, evolving and pragmatic foreign policy response to a rapidly changing world.

The scrapping of the triple lock mechanism is being pushed as the answer to these issues. In scrapping the triple lock, Ireland will be able to respond quickly to crises around the world without having to gain approval from the UN Security Council. Much of this response will likely take place through the newly revamped EU battlegroups system, which is intended to act as the bloc’s rapid reaction force to humanitarian crises. Ireland has committed 182 troops to the 2,000-strong German-led battlegroup. While this would allow for more agile responses to crisis situations, it is coming at a time when our own military is in crisis.

It is obvious to me from last year's tribunal of inquiry and the Report of the Commission on Defence Forces that there is a stark and urgent necessity to transform, reform and modernise current policies, systems and procedures of our Defence Forces. I want a career in the Defence Forces to be one where every individual feels valued, respected and recognised for the positive contribution that he or she is making to the State's security. In order to do that we need a massive injection of funding over multiple years to bring Ireland into line with the capability of other nations in Europe. We also need to listen to members' grievances with this Bill. Although they have been waiting ten years for intervention we cannot rush it through. While positive changes are seen to be arising out of the Defence Forces action plan, we need to fully engage with members and associations, and move towards the fair implementation of the recommendations from the commission. As I stated previously, the key resource of the Defence Forces is our people and therefore the most important measure of whether employment policies and conditions of service are attractive and effective is the strength of the organisation.

As a former member of the Defence Forces I have good memories. During the time I was in Army barracks in the late 1980s it was a good career and it was a good experience with good opportunities. When one made friends they were friends for life with a buddy system. The whole thing seems to have changed drastically. I believe we are not getting the right personnel and the right people into the Defence Forces as the conditions and terms are dreadful. I commend the Tánaiste on increasing the age limit. Many people joined the army at 17 or 18 years of age and made a good career. All of a sudden they came to the age of 50 and had nowhere to go. I am delighted with this change. That is their life and what they wanted. We should go back to the old system of the Army and look after the person. Coming as I do from Dundalk, and having worked at Aiken Barracks, we had our fair share of casualties over the last number years. The latest was Private Seán Rooney who was stationed there.

People do go home, and they want to go home, but it is a good career. We in Ireland are not making it a good career for the right people. I have spoken to a lot of young people who really wanted to make a life for themselves but not with those terms and conditions. The State seems to look after other bodies so I put it to the Minister of State that it is about time we looked after the Defence Forces. It is important that we make our Defence Forces a good place to work. Having only 7,500 personnel is not the way to go forward. We should have 12,000, 13,000 or 14,000 at the moment. If we do look after them then we will get the numbers up.

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