Mr. Luke Foley:

I thank the committee on behalf of our members. We are very appreciative to have this opportunity to discuss our concerns. My predecessor spoke of the frustrations in the form of 2019. It is clear that we are beyond frustrations now in a much more crucial time to deal with these issues.

I will briefly discuss the issue for our members with regard to the young officers, YO, that is, our younger post-2013 membership. Senator Craughwell pointed out the massive intake of YOs and whether they will reach the glass ceiling and find there are no careers for them. Unfortunately, based on the data from our exit survey, 79% of our post-2013 recruits do not see a career in the Defence Forces. Mainly from speaking to the members on the ground, which I have done continually, this has been echoed to me from all our post-2013 members.

We recently commissioned a class where 28 of those officers went to the 2 Brigade training centre where I am based. I held a seminar for them for a week and they were already discussing their exit strategy from the organisation because to put it simply, there is no long-term plan or place for them in the organisation. They will not be able to avail of a pension at retirement age due to the lack of a supplementary pension. Many of these people are talking about moving to other parts of the public sector for similar job roles. They are not looking to go to the private sector for big money. They want to stay in the public sector but all they are looking for is job security and security in retirement, which is a fundamental right for all people who serve their State.

When the Senator talks about a glass ceiling, unfortunately, I do not think we are going to get there. It is going to be a situation where people will leave over the next number of years. Trained personnel are going to leave, personnel who we cannot replace with trained personnel from other areas of the public sector or from outside because of the unique nature of what we do. It is, therefore, very worrying but I do not see it as being a glass ceiling for our post-2013 recruits.