Mr. Ollie O'Connor:

In our initial oral submission to the White Paper body, one of the points we made was the need to prepare people for civilian life. We wanted to equate military service with academic qualifications. I worked previously with PDFORRA and some progress has been made in that area, with Carlow IT now awarding diplomas and degrees. We were also looking for simple things, such as showing somebody how to do a CV. We can strip and assemble a rifle but doing a CV is another thing. We mentioned transition because other forces have arrangements for the transition to civilian life, in which the last two years, or even six months, of the service of a soldier is devoted to preparing him for civilian life. This might include going out to work somewhere else, and it is something we intend to push.