Dr. Mark Mellett:

The Defence Forces are well fed. I am delighted that all of our chefs are certified to a level that, unfortunately, makes them attractive to other parts of society, particularly the tourism industry.

I have been asked whether I am listening with regard to morale. I do not think there has been any Chief of Staff, or anyone among the general staff, who has spent more time visiting barracks, attending town hall meetings and putting himself or herself in front of troops.

That is the way I ground truth - the sense of value in the men and women of the Defence Forces. I also see it as my responsibility to allow employees to have a voice. This ensures people can express their point of view and speak to the Chief of Staff. I do so in a manner that aims to promote a culture in which nobody feels inhibited in expressing a point of view. It is working quite well. I have set in place a sergeant majors’ forum for all our key senior NCOs. I try to meet it every six months and take on board its recommendations on how we can better meet the requirements of young soldiers, sailors and aircrew within the organisation. We have an internal intranet which allows us to have discussions on a raft of issues.

One of the key developments in recent times has been the value awards. The Defence Forces have a set of values which have defined it as an institution since the foundation of the State. They are moral courage, physical courage, respect, integrity, loyalty and selflessness. It is critical that these are institutionalised within the Defence Forces. One of my happiest times in recent years was giving the awards to the value champions in the Defence Forces. These are individuals selected by their peers as best representing each of those values. I recall ringing a young private to give her the news that she was the recipient of the selflessness award. She was crying on the phone. After a while, she said surely somebody else in the Defence Forces deserved the award more than her. That epitomises the values in the Defence Forces. She was nominated by dozens of her peers, a selfless operator in the Defence Forces who epitomised that value.

I am constantly endeavouring to raise morale levels. There are challenges but I am not sitting on my hands in terms of addressing those. Internationally, we have looked at pay in other defence institutions in the UK and the US. I have dealt with the Australian and New Zealand chiefs of defence to get a sense of what mechanisms they have to deal with the issue of pay and conditions. It is not appropriate for me to compare us with other parts of the public sector. That is a matter for the Public Service Pay Commission. I am sure it will look at that in the round. It is an open book and this is a democracy. One can go to the Central Statistics Office website to see a comparator across the average weekly earnings of all parts of the public sector. One will see the Defence Forces is consistently the lowest paid group in the public sector. That is against the fact that we do not have protections. Our personnel are subject to an unlimited liability and to military law, meaning they will not strike. I feel there is a platform in the Public Service Pay Commission which will allow me acknowledge my desire to protect what is critical in the context of the institution of Óglaigh na hÉireann. There is a loyalty we have delivered since the foundation of the State and we will continue to do so. I will give leadership on that side. I am accepting there is a leadership issue here and I and the general staff will provide that leadership. There are areas in which I believe I could be even more able in the context of meeting the requirements of the Government and society. Pay is one of the issues on which I will certainly continue to advocate. I have done so to the Minister of State, as he has acknowledged in the Dáil. In fairness, the Minister of State has ensured the Public Service Pay Commission has prioritised the Defence Forces as one area to be examined.

I am delighted Senator Mark Daly served with the Reserve Defence Forces. It has made some fine men in the State. It is a powerful institution and has given us significant agility today, and even more so in the future in terms of some of the projects in the White Paper on Defence.

It would not be appropriate for me to comment on Brexit. The Senator can be assured that the prudent planning required is being carried out. One would expect no less. The EU army is in the policy space and I cannot comment on it. Suffice to say, there is the triple lock with a requirement of a decision from the Cabinet and the Oireachtas, as well as a UN mandate. That remains in place to ensure the Defence Forces remain within the institutions that the sovereign State decides are fit and appropriate for a democracy.