Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Chathaoirleach. I will ask six brief questions. I am conscious of my colleagues trying to get in. If there is a second round, I would be happy to speak.

I welcome Lieutenant General Clancy and his team. To double on what Deputy Clarke was saying, I thank him for the hospitality that was extended to the committee on our visits to the naval base at Haulbowline, the Defence Forces training centre in the Curragh and Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel. It is good we are in a position to reciprocate a little hospitality today for a change.

My first question is in relation to capability. Obviously, we are all aware of what is happening in Ukraine. We would hope there would be a peaceful solution tomorrow but we are all realistic. That is unlikely to happen. In fact, the trajectory or trend line we are on is non-reassuring. It is more likely that the conflict will widen and escalate rather than de-escalate. It would be good to get the Chief of Staff's professional assessment of how this country can protect itself in the event of the conflict widening. I guess the specific question is, do we have a national defence plan and is it adequately resourced? That is the first question.

The remaining five have to do with retention, which, I would say, is far more important than recruitment. To double on Deputy Brady's question about the housing situation in the Curragh, but also beyond that from a Defence Forces perspective, there are 77 family homes unoccupied as part of the Department of Defence estate, 62 of which are in the Curragh. I accept they are in various states of disrepair. We very much welcome what the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence stated in the Dáil Chamber a month ago where he changed the policy. The Tánaiste stated that the Department will be looking at having families living on base in the future, which is a welcome development. I guess my question to the Chief of Staff is, where are we with implementation of that new policy? Specifically, and this might focus the answer, by the end of this year does the Chief of Staff envisage any of those houses being back on track? Housing is a topical issue, and rightly so, currently in the country.

The third question is about private medical care. Currently, commissioned officers are getting it but enlisted personnel are not. We welcome the defence Estimates. The Tánaiste was before this committee only a few weeks ago. In the Estimate, €5 million has been provided for 2023. Is there a launch date for this? When will private medical care be available to enlisted personnel? Obviously, we would say the sooner, the better. Our enlisted personnel get injured and they should not be out of pocket when it comes to paying for their surgical operations, whether it is knees, hips or whatever.

The next question is about pay. I acknowledge there have been some small improvements at the lower end of the scale. If you have less than three years' service, there have been small improvements which I and, no doubt, the committee welcome, but there has not been any improvement specific to the Defence Forces beyond that. The Commission on the Defence Forces recommended improvements on patrol duty allowance for the Naval Service. We are hearing indications that it could be doubled in the next little while. That is not sufficient. It should be quadrupled because it is such a small allowance. Is that the case? When will the final decision be made on the patrol duty allowance?

The commission also recommended long-service increments for those with long service but we do not yet see any implementation of that. Where are we with that process? The commission recommended 840 lance corporal positions. Obviously, they are important in their own right, but it would allow senior privates to get a bit of a pay rise if they were promoted to lance corporal. When are we likely to see the first lance corporal in the Irish Defence Forces?

An initiative that has been mentioned here before is apprentice and cadet pay. They do not get military service allowance. Apprentices, for the first two years, are on less than €20,000. What would the Chief of Staff's view on that be, and could military service allowance be extended to apprentices and cadets? The Chief of Staff will remember the cadets were used during the Covid pandemic. They were deployed operationally from a contact tracing point of view.

Lastly, retention has been mentioned here previously. A number of serving personnel have been in touch with a number of Deputies and Senators who are members of the committee. If you joined the Defence Forces before 1994 and you are a private or a corporal, you can serve to the age of 60. We accept the principle that there are privates and corporals currently serving in the military who are 60 years of age but if you joined after 1994, you must retire at the age of 50. Perhaps that was a rational rule when it was brought in in the 1990s but it is not appropriate any more. What would the Chief of Staff's view on that be? Can we at least pause the implementation of this rule pending review? The Tánaiste was here and to read his body language, he was open-minded at the prospect. If we are trying to keep people in the Defence Forces, we should not be driving them out. I would certainly argue that people who want to stay, provided they are medically fit, should be allowed to stay.

The last point is on gender. I take the Chief of Staff's point that 7% of the Defence Forces are female. That is not appropriate. We would like that to be much higher. We should bear in mind as well that the gender balance of the Defence Forces is better than that in midwifery. It is better than in nursing. It is better than on building sites. While we want to improve it and it is at a low base, the Defence Forces is not the only organisation in this situation. We should be mindful of that. The Chief of Staff mentioned 7% on average, but my understanding is that there is a higher percentage of females in the Defence Force band and in the Reserve Defence Force. What I would extrapolate from that is if you provide an environment where there are regular working hours, which is compliant with the European work time directive and where you are not sent overseas with a couple of days' notice, it is likely to attract more female participation. If the Chief of Staff has those percentages, even approximate ones, it certainly would be helpful. Lastly, from a gender point of view, the gender pay gap is an issue across society where males are paid more than females. What is the gender pay gap in the Defence Forces?

That is all I have. If there is a second round, I would be happy to speak.