Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On recruitment, I have not followed the most recent recruitment phases as closely as I probably should have. A number of people who fell outside the age bracket - one in particular - have contacted me during the years. They are graduates and fully skilled. It was a female in one case. Has there been any thought given to changing the cap considering that people are living longer and more active into their later years? Some 30 or 40 years ago a 50 year old might have been considered to be unable to carry out certain tasks within the Army whereas now, because of the change in lifestyles and the wealth of our society, 60 year olds could carry them out.

We must capture another situation. Many people, young people in particular, are staying longer in college. They seem to be but I might be wrong. When an opportunity arises to join the Defence Forces, they might be engaged already in something else but are willing to finish their course or whatever. The cap is either 28 or 29 years of age. I suggest the cap be moved to 21 or 22 years.

In terms of the cap at the other end, I suggest the retirement age be increased to retain people who have the corporate knowledge and skill set to train others. Not only would we not lose them by virtue of an arbitrary figure that we have put in place, it might also address some of the concerns some of the officers or even the enlisted men have in terms of their pensions. Such an initiative would also address the matter of maintaining a strength of 9,500 personnel. The change might be something that can be done quite quickly. It would address an immediate problem but not forever more. Once competition increases in terms of job opportunities, the key thing is to make the Defence Forces attractive, and not just in terms of pay because it is not always about pay. There is collegiality and everything else that goes with that.

Has the Secretary General seen a spike in interest since last year's commemorative events and the decade of commemorations? Has the number of applications increased? At the time there was huge support in communities for the Defence Forces and people were very impressed? Maybe people are too young now but they will apply to join in the future.

Two years ago there was a television programme called "Recruits". Can the programme be repeated? If so, it might help address the gap and improve recruitment. Many people from the Six Counties applied to join at one time. I do not know whether numbers have dropped. Many young men, in particular, from Belfast used to join. Some of them have joined of late, but I do not know the difference in terms of numbers.