David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have a final question. It has been said to us more than once - the witnesses alluded to this - that we are beyond full employment. It is a term I heard last week. We are all inundated with people contacting us from the private sector saying that they cannot get workers. When they look at the Defence Forces they see a cadre of highly trained, highly disciplined, very able people and they decide straight away to reach out and see if they can attract them. Will the witnesses comment on that as an issue? I met a senior executive of a multinational company last week who told me that there are 240 open vacancies on their books and they are screaming for people, such as people from the Defence Forces. I have heard anecdotally that in some instances a person who joins a private sector company can get a bounty if they can attract a colleague from the Defence Forces to join as well. I am not sure whether that is true. Maybe it is an urban myth; I do not know. Will the witnesses comment on whether they encounter those kinds of pressures from the private sector seeking to pull people from the Defence Forces at all levels? Captain Bray mentioned pilots who would be highly sought after and highly trained as well. I know there are people with all kinds of skills, and people with no skills, who have the training, discipline and loyalty and are highly sought after. Will Lieutenant Colonel King comment on that?