Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Public Service Pay Commission was established to advise the Government on public service remuneration policy. In the current phase, which is the second phase of the commission's work, it was tasked by its terms of reference to undertake an examination of whether, and to what extent, there are difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff in key areas of the public service identified in its first report. The Public Service Pay Commission has adopted a modular approach to its work programme for its present exercise. As the Deputy will be aware, the first module was published by the commission in August 2018 and deals with issues relating to nursing, midwifery, non-consultant hospital doctors and consultants. The commission engaged on work in relation to the Defence Forces in accordance with its terms of reference. Written submissions were received, and the commission has now completed its examination of recruitment and retention matters in the Defence Forces and has submitted its report to me for consideration. The report will be submitted to the Government. To answer the Deputy's three questions - I anticipate it will be coming to the Government in the next couple of weeks; I received it in May, although I cannot be sure whether it was early or late May; and we will be engaging with the Defence Forces on the report. However, this will be after its publication, as has been the case with other reports.

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