Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I raise again the crisis within our Defence Forces. The low level of morale within the rank and file, the shabby manner in which they are treated, the gaps in middle management, and the failure to retain and nurture specialist expertise within the forces all point to a failed policy of the Government and a Minister of State who, with the Government, is completely out of touch with the reality on the ground. In the Army, the Air Corps and the Naval Service, a consistent message emerges. Members are exiting the Defence Forces at all ranks at a rate of between 40 and 50 per month. We learned last October that ships could not set sail because there were not enough crew members to manage them. The Air Corps operates at 70% capacity. On the rank and file within the Army, Sarah Walsh of the Wives & Partners of the Defence Forces put it eloquently when she said:

Our families live in poverty. We suffer from food, income, fuel, and child poverty. Many of us can only dream of owning our home, and some this month are facing uncertainty about their homes, while others are facing homelessness. I personally know these people.

The current strength is approximately 8,800, which does not take into account 670 members overseas or 450 in full-time training. There has been a blind reliance by the Government on recruitment over retention and on recruiting its way out of the crisis. Recruitment on its own, however, has had no impact on the strength of the Defence Forces in recent years, and the cost benefit of retention over recruitment is indisputable. There has been a removal of initiatives to enhance retention, such as the fixed-period promotion for specialist service officers, which illustrates the lack of creative thinking to support our Defence Forces. It restricted members' career progress and left them with nowhere to go, resulting in people buying themselves out of the Defence Forces and leaving in unacceptable numbers. We have lost much specialist expertise from our Defence Forces. The Chief of Staff, Vice Admiral Mellett, has stated:

You are always going to have a churn and a churn is healthy, but I would rather it be down about 5 per cent rather than the 8.1 per cent it is at present. It is that extra per cent that is crippling us at present.

The ongoing exit from the ranks of the Defence Forces is just too great and it speaks to a failed policy. Does the Taoiseach accept that there is a crisis within our Defence Forces? Does he further accept, as has been suggested, that the Government, through the Department of Defence, is undermining the case being made by our Defence Forces through the initiatives of their leadership to turn the situation around? They meet obstacles in every direction.

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