Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will go through the questions asked by the Deputy. Pay is not an issue for the White Paper but the Secretary General, the Chief of Staff and officials from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform met the Pay Service Pay Commission this morning. I do not determine who appears before the commission. As I have pointed out to the Deputy on numerous occasions, the commission is independent. I do not say "Send this one in" or "Do not send that one in". That is nothing to do with me. That is a matter for the commission. Nor is it anything to do with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. That is why we have an independent pay commission to look at the overall issue of pay. Nobody muzzled anybody. It is up to the commission.

The overall strength of the organisation is 94%. There is no delay in recruitment regarding the Reserve or enlisted members. A process relating to a competition will get under way shortly. For security reasons, I will not give the Deputy details regarding how many members of the Defence Forces are with the cyber unit in the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment.