Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and his officials, despite what others may have said earlier. I have a number of specific questions but I must leave at noon. One of the recommendations of the pay commission was to review recruitment. Will the Minister of State provide an update on this review? What is the timescale? How long will it take? The Minister of State has established a strategic HR group that will help the organisation in the long run. Will he give an update on these questions.

Many measures have been taken to increase the earnings of members of the Defence Forces and we have discussed them at length this morning. They include pay agreement increases, pay commission recommendations and the implementation of outstanding adjudications. What is the total cost of this? Perhaps the Minister of State is in a position to give some details. Something that has been highlighted, and I do not want to repeat it, is the starting pay of a three star private, which is the starting rank in the Defence Forces. It has been criticised as very low. Will the Minister of State outline how much he envisages these increases being in the current year and how much they were in recent years?