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

The Minister of State has to agree there were difficulties.

The Minister of State visited the United Nations in New York and was showing a force of strength with the Defence Forces. It is a bit like the emperor with no clothes because the words Minister of State uses abroad do not match the reality of the morale and retention issues at home. The facts and figures in the RACO climate survey carried our by Amárach bear that out.

People want to go overseas but it does not suit certain people at a particular time. It is because of the gaps and the retention crisis, and because the Minister of State's Department has stopped the acting-up rank being facilitated because of the computer logic of some of the mandarins in his Department, that we have this image of a fighting force overseas while Rome burns at home. The Minister of State should be more honest, when he is over at the United Nations, about the difficulties the Defence Forces are facing. The focus should be less on the Minister of State making a pitch to successfully get a seat on the United Nations Security Council, which I would welcome, but that focus needs to be matched by supporting our troops. That is the important context.

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