Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have a general question. Should we be holding on to Army personnel for longer rather than giving people attractive pensions at a relatively early age? I am throwing out the question, not necessarily making a suggestion. The question has to be answered, however. Can we afford to have a situation where people can retire on these terms? It is part of their right under the existing scheme, so this would mean a change in rules and regulations for new people coming in, but it strikes me that it is an uphill battle all the time. Are the Defence Forces under-strength as a result of retirements? This naturally becomes a bigger problem when the economy is going well and people have other options. We rightly spend a great deal of money on training people and on all the other things that go with the Defence Forces. Then we are left at the mercy of whether these people are going to stay the course or take early retirement. Has there been any thought of reviewing the conditions under which people join the Defence Forces and the length of time we expect them to serve? It is a constant issue that we do not really know when people are going to take up other options.