Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This is a little bit like Groundhog Day. We keep talking about pay restoration and ongoing recruitment, but while recruitment has been stepped up, we are running to keep still and not actually increasing numbers. The Minister of State has not addressed the very clear issue that over 30 personnel in one month have sought a discharge in circumstances where only a couple of them were actually at retirement age. Clearly, the measures the Minister of State has adopted to date are not having the required impact. The Minister of State has also not addressed what we are going to do to train new personnel if experienced personnel are lost. What are we going to do to address the brain drain and the loss of corporate knowledge? Taking in new personnel is one thing, but how are we going to retain the personnel we have? The White Paper on defence is not being implemented properly. A Defence Forces climate survey was published in 2015 but we have seen no marked change in the approach of the Department or the Minister of State's office to address the issues which were highlighted in that. It is nearly three years since its publication. What is the Minister of State doing to address the fact that more than 30 personnel have sought a discharge in one month?

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