Mr. Jamie Bray:

Yes. The Air Corps has what is called a service commitment scheme for pilots when they reach 12 years. When a pilot is commissioned, they get a 12-year contract, so when they are fully qualified they must sign on for 12 years. When the pilot finishes that 12 years, they will now be offered a service commitment scheme where they will receive an annual payment of approximately €20,000 plus they can sign on for a further three years, five years, or eight years. If they wish to leave during the period they signed on for they will have to pay that money back. If they stay for the full set they keep the money. The service commitment scheme was introduced at the start of Covid-19 and it was deemed really successful because everybody signed on as there were no jobs. No one was leaving the organisation. Since Covid-19 finished we have seen a greater number of pilots leave the organisation again, so I do not know how successful it has been in the most recent year or two. The scheme should be expanded not just to pilots, but to air traffic controllers, technicians and Army and Naval Service personnel as well. However, this has not been done - it just applies to pilots.