Ms Jacqui McCrum:

I wish good evening to the chair and members of the committee and thank them for inviting us to discuss recent Air Corps developments. As the Chair said, I am accompanied today by Ms Clare Tiernan, assistant secretary and member of my management board. Before addressing the Air Corps issue, I want to reflect on the position to date.

Since I took over the position of Secretary General, there have been a number of reports on various issues from the White Paper to the Commission on the Defence Forces, the Mohan, Meenan, Fitzgerald and Ward reports and the independent review group, IRG, report, totalling just over 400 recommendations in all. The challenging environment we operate within has become more difficult and fraught and committee members are all aware of the geopolitical paradigm we are now faced with. These developments have required a significant policy response and that is what the Department has been, and continues to be, focused on.

It is important to highlight the significant work that has been undertaken over the past five years to transform the Defence Forces, including the Air Corps. This transformation, led by successive Ministers for Defence, has been framed by the report on the Commission of the Defence Force and the associated implementation plan; the implementation of the IRG report, including the establishment of a statutory external oversight body, the implementation of the strategic framework and the publication of the defence policy review. There have been key developments. Budget 2025 provided a record allocation of €1.35 billion for the defence sector, the highest amount in the history of the State. This allocation includes capital funding of €215 million in 2025, providing for Defence Forces equipment and infrastructural needs. This represents an increase of €39 million, or 22%, on 2024 and includes over €130 million for capability development investment, of which €55 million relates to essential aircraft project, such as strategic reach aircraft, light utility helicopter projects and C295 military transport aircraft. This level of investment clearly demonstrates Government’s strong commitment to defence and will provide the Defence Forces with an increased capacity necessary to respond to increasingly more complex global security threats and events.

Some €50 million is being invested in national defence infrastructure this year. In respect of Casement Aerodrome at Baldonnel the following projects, costing a total of €5.8 million have been completed in recent years: new redeployable modular accommodation to facilitate increased training requirements, an upgrade to hangar 3 and a main technical stores refurbishment.

Planning is under way for a new barracks service store, a new accommodation building, a new gym, a new crash-rescue building and a new ATC tower. A step change as to how we future proof our infrastructure for the next 30 years has been approved by the Tánaiste to recently complete the development of an airside master development plan to further develop Casement Aerodrome and provide means to reaching level of ambition, LOA, 2.

On the HR front in the Defence Forces, there has been significant progress on pay and conditions. Recruits on completion of training now start at over €41,000, an increase of 49% over the past six years, while the pay of graduate cadets now commences on over €50,000. Recruitment age has increased to 39 and to 50 for direct entry specialists. Mandatory retirement age increased to 62. Private secondary healthcare has been rolled out to all PDF members. The working time directive has been extended across the Defence Forces. Patrol duty allowance payable to Naval Service personnel at sea has been doubled. A technical pay 2-6 review has been completed and implemented and is targeted at specialist personnel.

As outlined, on the direction of successive Ministers, the Department has been proactively working with our military colleagues in transforming the Defence Forces in the manner expected by Government and by our citizens. The impact of the actions undertaken has resulted in a stabilising of personnel numbers in 2024. We are also seeing continuous growth in the number of applications the Defence Forces are receiving to join the organisation with 13,400 received in 2024 alone.

We do, however, have a journey to travel and there are specific challenges in recruitment and retention of specialist personnel including air traffic controllers. I would like to highlight the targeted work that has been done to address this specific challenge. An internal report from December 2021 was a joint effort between the Department and the Defence Forces making recommendations and was produced prior to the Commission on Defence Forces report in 2022.

The majority of the recommendations in the report of the working group are internal management matters. Sanction for the introduction of a service commitment scheme was actioned by the Department when it received the business case for same from the Defence Forces. In addition, the following actions were taken: new recruitment options, including an air traffic control cadetship competition was approved and introduced in 2024; direct entry opportunities have been developed; and flexibility in promotion processes and criteria have been approved. I should note the constructive support of the representative associations in bringing these measures forward.

The committee may wish to note that the challenges facing the Air Corps in retaining air traffic controllers has changed significantly since the 2021 report. We have seen an increase in commercial activity in terms of there being other opportunities for air traffic controllers in Ireland. It is a fact that there is a growing shortage of air traffic controllers globally. That is why recently the Tánaiste has secured agreement to extend the service commitment scheme for pilots in the Air Corps to air traffic control personnel. It is understood that these measures should stabilise the current numbers but will also form the basis for the full recovery and building up of resilience of the service in the coming years. Other measures are also actively being looked at with Air Corps colleagues in terms of securing additional resources, including from external service providers, to ensure all avenues are being examined.

In conclusion, I believe that the various initiatives and actions outlined illustrate the extent to which both the Department and senior military management are actively and constructively engaged in transforming the Defence Forces and specifically to resolving this matter.