Mr. Rossa Mulcahy:

I will add a bit on the pensions. I have been on the record, as has the previous Chief of Staff, advocating to overcome the challenges. As the Secretary General has said, the mandatory retirement age has increased to 62 for all serving members of the Defence Forces. This is very positive and gives a level of certainty to personnel, in that they know they can have a full career in the Defence Forces and understand their entitlements in that regard. There is a gap between the age of 62 and when the pension kicks in at 66. This is a priority for me as Chief of Staff, and I will work with the Minister and the Secretary General in this regard, as did my predecessor. We will work to see whether there is something we can do. Perhaps there is something at uniformed services level. It is a constraint and it has been highlighted in surveys as being a reason people retire. If we can overcome that, it will be a significant retention enabler for Defence Forces personnel.

Deputy Brabazon asked about air traffic control and the impact on Garda operations. Yes, there has been an impact. We have restricted our hours of operation in Baldonnel. I do not want to go into the specifics for operational reasons but we have put a number of mitigating measures in place, in close co-operation between Air Corps headquarters and Garda headquarters at that level, for when the service is not available. At present, the Garda air support unit operates from different location. We have plans in place to extend the hours of operations in the immediate future. This is part of the engagement with some State bodies to which the Secretary General alluded earlier. We will be enhancing the availability of the operational running of the service from Baldonnel in future.