Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

What recommendations did the Minister of State make to the pay commission? In a response to me in May, the Minister of State said he was not sure if I had read the recent headline in the national newspapers. Here are a few headlines the Minister of State might have read this week: "Crew shortage prevents Naval Service vessels setting sail"; "Taoiseach 'cannot confirm' naval vessels did not sail due to staff shortages"; "Defence Forces staff 'buying themselves out of service'"; "PDFORRA: Hundreds of Defence Forces personnel have paid to get to get out of service over pay rates"; "Irish Defence Forces troops left stranded in Syria after flights 'delayed'"; "Revealed: Members of Defence Forces being paid less than the minimum wage ... unless they work additional hours". This is the reality of the recruitment and retention issue we have. My fear is the Minister of State keeps kicking the pay commission's report to touch and we will not see measured recommendations from it. The Minister of State is leading an area of the public service with a unique difference from other areas that he keeps referencing.

Recruitment is up but the numbers keep going down. When will the Minister of State plug the gap so we can see a levelling of numbers and meet the White Paper targets? These are the headlines that the Minister of State must defend and reference rather than trying to put a positive spin on this, as he did in May.

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