Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State's party has been in Government for over six years. I accept that the Minister of State has a budgetary responsibility to the Government, but I remind him that as a Minister of State who essentially takes all the responsibility for the defence portfolio, he also has a duty to the men and women who are the members of the Irish Defence Forces. I do not believe he has advocated for them adequately in the context of next year's budget.

The Minister of State suggested that the contracts are prehistoric, but he has been in this Department for over six years. These issues have been highlighted to him for years, but he has not dealt with them. He is here now talking about the conciliation and arbitration process. I highlighted the deficiencies in that process months ago, prior to the pay talks. It is only now that an independent review is being conducted. I put it to the Minister of State that if the independent review is anything like the Air Corps review he conducted, we should not be holding our breath because that review did not work. The Minister of State needs to give assurances that this review will be conducted properly and that the person appointed to conduct it will have the competence and expertise to do so. We will need to see progress and results from it.

I have no doubt that the RACO conference will send a similarly strong message about the crisis in our Defence Forces.

While the Minister of State can say he has made progress, the facts remain the same. The numbers are diminishing and the strength is the lowest ever. We are nowhere near the 9,500 requirement, and we should really be at 10,500. There is no retention plan in place. While the Minister of State can talk about pay, he has not addressed conditions and the diminishing numbers in our Defence Forces.

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