Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I join my colleagues in welcoming the Chief of Staff along with his colleagues, the deputy chief of Staff and assistant chief of staff. This is the first time they have appeared before us and perhaps it will be the first of many appearances.

We have all read newspaper reports in recent months and years indicating that morale in the Defence Forces is low. We do not like reading those reports. The Defence Forces are people we look to during a time of crisis, particularly during flooding. We could go into all the cases we have experienced personally. As the Chief of Staff said, when everybody was off the streets during the recent storm the military personnel were out. I am delighted that in his opening statement he said how proud he was of his men and their commitment to the State. All of us are proud of the military and we know the commitment its members have to securing the State.

I know the Chief of Staff does not like talking about pay and conditions all the time. We do not like reading about it in the papers. Nobody wanted to march with military personnel, especially retired personnel who marched in support of their serving colleagues. I acknowledge that the Chief of Staff will go before the Public Service Pay Commission to address that issue. It is the first time somebody has given a serious commitment to try to address it. I hope he gets the full support of the Department on this matter. He will certainly have the full support of the Oireachtas.

In regard to pay and conditions, what comparison with An Garda Síochána has the Defence Forces carried out? Some people mentioned the Pope's recent visit. I will not rehash the point, but we read reports on what the military personnel earned that day. One Garda member told me the overtime he made that weekend paid for his skiing holiday. I know damn well that what the military walked away with would not pay for a meal, never mind a skiing holiday. Has the Chief of Staff made comparisons between what are practically the same ranks? Has the pay of a Defence Forces recruit been compared with the pay of a new recruit to the Garda Síochána as they move up the ladder and pay scale? Deputy Ó Snodaigh mentioned other militaries. Have the Defence Forces engaged with the British, French or other armies around Europe on how they pay their staff? If such a comparison has been made, the Chief of Staff might outline it for us. It is an issue that has to be addressed.

On recruitment and retention, what can be done to keep personnel in the Defence Forces? The strongest impression I get when meeting young military personnel is that they are leaving to join An Garda Síochána. I met a young lad last week who was disappointed that he had not passed the first exam for An Garda Síochána but he planned to try again. That is a big issue. It will be difficult to recruit people into the military in years to come. We have to put in place a proper system to attract and retain people in the military. I would like to know whether the Defence Forces have looked at what other armies around Europe have done to retain their officers. I understand the Air Corps can no longer fly at night because it does not have sufficient personnel. Organ donor transport used to be provided by the military. I remember ringing Baldonnel Aerodrome in 2003 or 2004 when a young person was in a serious accident in Spain and had no insurance. The military was able to send the Government jet out to bring that person home. That was a tremendous service. Air Corps pilots are required to fly a certain number of hours. Does the Defence Forces have the manpower to provide this service now?

I understand that the 2015 adjudication on post-1994 personnel is scheduled to expire at the end of 2020. This will see the compulsory discharge of significant numbers of personnel from the Defence Forces. What impact is the current delay in notifying personnel of their future employment within the Defence Forces having? Will allowing personnel to serve up to the age of 50 have an adverse impact on the Defence Forces?

PDFORRA participated in an adjudication hearing in 2015 in which the adjudicator recommended allowing personnel of tech 1 grade and above and corporals to remain in service for five years. This recommendation is scheduled to run out at the end of 2020. Significant numbers of enlisted personnel are to be discharged at the beginning of 2021. What impact will that have on the Defence Forces?

The Chief of Staff might not be able to comment on this, but I read in the papers recently that there has been a major breakdown in trust between the Department and the Defence Forces. I remember a former brigadier wrote an article in-----