Mr. Conor King:

It has often been described as a tomorrow problem, 20 years down the line. We do not want people to break their psychological contract. We want to give them that north star to work towards that gives them the chance to have a long-term career in an organisation like the Defence Forces. Studies have shown that once a person decides to or thinks about leaving, he or she is as good as gone. Certainly, we see the certainty and predictability in other areas of the public service, in particular, the Civil Service and other public sector bodies or other uniformed services. People are going to the likes of the Prison Service and An Garda Síochána, which are also difficult jobs but which have more certainty and predictability. They have the ability to get overtime and a better work-life balance. That will not really exist in the Defence Forces until the working time directive is brought in.

The Senator mentioned the conciliation and arbitration scheme and asked where it is. The scheme exists and it has potential to be really good. However, we have to remember that because the Defence Forces is different from the majority of other public sector organisations in that we cannot withdraw labour, and that is a key weakness in terms of industrial relations - let us call a spade a spade - the conciliation and arbitration scheme has to be strong and robust. It cannot be undermined ever. We have witnessed over the last number of years systemic undermining of conciliation and arbitration through, for example, the absence for a year and a half of a third-party adjudicator to the current absence of an arbitration board because it ran out of time, through breaches of Defence Force Regulations S.6, which underpin representation and the scope of representation. When people do not have confidence in the only avenue they have then, yes, we have to start looking at other measures like the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, and Labour Court that will bind Government to decisions. Let us not forget that conciliation and arbitration scheme findings are not legally binding either. It seems like we have a pretty weak system there, particularly when it is not adhered to.

The official side in the conciliation and arbitration scheme comprises the Department of Defence, Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform and military management. Quite often, we sense a tension whereby the Department of Defence is trying to get answers from the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform but they are not forthcoming, and items stay on the agenda for months and months with no updates and no accountability. That is a serious problem for us. I wrote to the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform two weeks ago to complain about some of the lack of engagement from his officials. That is on the record.

With regard to the allowances, the Senator spoke about Haulbowline. I will pass over to Lieutenant Commander Cian O’Mearain, who might also talk about the patrol duty allowance.