Gerard Craughwell (Independent)
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Do the witnesses see benefit in a system similar to that the British have in which one-size-fits-all national pay rounds take place but then the defence people have a look at specific qualifications or skill sets and may recommend an additional premium for those who hold those skill sets, allowing them to move outside the national pay round? If the pay round is 5%, another 1% might be given to artificers, for example. I appreciate that the Secretary General has to deal with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. My own view is that Department has far too long a reach over all other Departments. It makes it very difficult for the Secretary General because she has to get sanction for anything she wants to do. As has been learned in militaries right across the world, there has to be a way to pay people for the skill sets they have over and above the ordinary soldier. For example, a private soldier in an infantry battalion is not the same as a private soldier who is working in cybersecurity. That is my view. I do not know if the Secretary General wants to comment on that. I will leave it to her.