Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I understand what happened in the past but given the crisis at certain levels and in certain sections of the Defence Forces in terms of officers, particularly in certain key areas, surely the Minister of State will look again at reintroducing a system that worked and may help stop the flow of officers into the private sector through being either head hunted or believing there is no future for them in the Defence Forces. It does not sit comfortably with me or the public that key areas like the air traffic service are at breaking point. In fact, there are indications that a number of other captains in the air traffic service are due to leave and one is on maternity leave leading to a further shortfall which cannot be dealt with by people who have only just completed training given that additional training of four to five years required, which would mean that the shortfall is going to get bigger. Surely anything that might help plug that gap in our services should be addressed or at least looked at.

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