Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent)
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To buy them back, yes.

I take the Tánaiste's point about increasing the basic wage for people with less than three years' service, but people with more than three years' service are my next focus. A recommendation in the high-level action plan indicated that the patrol duty allowance for the Naval Service should be reviewed. It is why the Naval Service is at a historic low as regards crewing at present. We hear talk of patrol duty allowance possibly being doubled sometime this year. Is that true? When are we likely to get a decision on it? If that allowance were to be doubled, it would make a significant improvement from a retention and recruitment perspective.

On long-service increments, improvements have been made to the salaries of people with less than three years' service. What about the people with more than three years' service? There was a recommendation in the Commission on the Defence Forces report and in the high-level action plan that long-service increments be introduced. When are we likely to see that? A recommendation was made for approximately 800 new lance corporal positions. Again, that would give people a little more of a leg-up on pay. When are we likely to see that?

I am not sure how familiar the Tánaiste is with the army nursing service. The Estimates indicate that €800,000 has been allocated to nursing services. These are agency nurses. An agency nurse in Kilkenny, who has worked in the Defence Forces for the past ten years, has effectively been on a 24-hour contract over that period. We have asked about the nursing review for a number of years. We were told by the Minster's predecessor that it almost done and would be completed by the end of the year, but it still has not been done. I suggest that instead of hiring expensive agency nurses on a 24-hour rolling basis, we just hire and employ these people properly and give them proper contracts. We will end up saving money, making people much happier and providing a better service.

To double down on what Deputy Brady said, a comment on page 4 of the Estimates references the defence (amendment) Bill 2023. It states the heads of the Bill are prepared. Is there any indication of when they will be published? Can we get access to them? I specifically ask about this because there is obviously an issue regarding deploying military personnel on close protection duties where there is no UN Security Council resolution. There is a possibility, this week or next week, of an amendment to the Civil Defence Bill, which also comes under the Department of Defence umbrella. There is a possibility of using that as an amendment mechanism to amend the Defence Act.

Those are all my questions. The Tánaiste may not have all the answers to hand but we can follow up during the week.