Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

On the subject of the one just across the line, the €67 million in the budget is quite a small figure in light of what is needed. The Minister said that does not include the Building Momentum pay deal that is currently being balloted on. We obviously do not want to prejudge what the trade unions are going to say or do. Perhaps the Minister might use this opportunity to state clearly that there will be additional money on the table through the Finance Bill if the Building Momentum pay deal is passed. That would be very useful.

A big concern of mine, which I think is shared by all members of the committee, is the situation in Ukraine and how Ireland does not really have a big say in how that situation is going to develop. The trajectory we are on at the moment is not reassuring.

There is a risk that the conflict could spread and could do so rapidly and very seriously. Is there provision for additional funding if we need to scale up our Defence Forces at very short notice? That is it on the funding side.

I welcome the general thrust of the opening statement. I agree with 99% of it. I highlight the last sentence of the second paragraph, which states: "However, the overarching theme was the urgent need for cultural transformation within the Defence Forces." I agree that cultural transformation is a component that needs to be addressed, but for me the overarching theme of the report is Ireland's lack of military capability as a result of years of under-investment. That is where the levels of ambition 1, 2 and 3 came from in the first place.

The implementation piece was correctly mentioned by my colleagues. It was suggested that an independent chairperson would chair the implementation oversight group. Do we have any idea who that person will be or when he or she will be appointed?

I thank the Minister for highlighting what the pay proposals are. They are significant for people with less than three years' service. A pay increase of €5,000 to €6,000 a year is significant. I suspect everyone here would have confidence that if there is a central national wage agreement, it would be paid very quickly, but people in the Defence Forces do not have much trust in the sector-specific agreements. I use the example of the €1,000 pandemic bonus that was announced in January but still has not been paid. What is the likelihood that these improvements for people with less than three years' service will come in before Christmas? That is a realistic timetable and if it was delivered before Christmas, it would certainly assist from a morale point of view.

My final question is about the working time directive. To clarify, will it be done by regulation or legislation? The temptation here is to have a blanket exemption for everything. Everybody accepts that the Defence Forces are different from other public servants, but a distinction should be made between what is an emergency or wartime period and what is normal peacetime. We are trying to get people to join and stay in the Defence Forces, in particular from a gender-balance point of view. The only way to do that is to make sure there is an appropriate work-life balance.