Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes. Has incentivised leave been explored in terms of a retention policy? Has a scheme been costed? Will it be considered? The Minister of State has already touched on, as have I, the high attrition rate in the Defence Forces. Around the five year mark we are losing highly trained officers. A lot of money is spent on training people so it would be worth giving people the option of a career break. People could leave the Defence Forces to do other things for a number of years and then return having gained civilian experience. It would mean we would retain the people who have been well trained by the Defence Forces. I ask the Minister of State to consider ways to alleviate the loss of personnel.

I want to ask about the change of station allowance. The allowance has become more important now with the closure of barracks and, as mentioned by Deputy Tony McLoughlin and others, people must travel large distances. In terms of somebody having to relocate for a particular period, does the Minister of State have the annual cost of the change of station allowance? Has this spending increased or decreased since 2014? Are we spending more or less on the annual change of station allowance?

I wish to bring a matter that he might be able to work on to the attention of the Minister of State. It has been brought to my attention that originally people applying for the change of station allowance could produce their landlord-tenant agreement, as not everyone is a homeowner. In this instance one could offer a lease agreement as proof of where one lived. Soldiers are now being asked to provide a registration number provided by the Private Residential Tenancies Board. The onus to register with the PRTB lies with the landlord and not the tenant. Basically, it is a Revenue issue. It is unfair to request a member of the Defence Forces to provide a PRTB registration number that he or she is not responsible for generating. I ask the Minister of State to ensure that a reasonable level of documentation is required. It should be enough to provide a copy of a lease as proof of where one has lived. People should not have to supply extra documentation in order to qualify for the allowance. It has become overly cumbersome to apply for the allowance.

My next comment may be totally off the wall. There is a feeling or perception among members that applying for the allowance has been made unduly difficult in order to discourage applications and, thus, reduce the cost of the allowance. That may not be true but that is the talk among the soldiers. My view is that the PRTB documentation should not be sought.