Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The problem relates to core pay and that is what must be addressed. One can tinker around the sides in respect of allowances and so on but the issue of core pay must be addressed. That is one reason the representative associations want to move on and have representation at the table to argue for their case. They perceive a weakness in that the Minster of State is not championing or pushing that forward, which is a big problem. There is a great problem with morale. The figures show that people are leaving day after day. The Minister of State needs to do something different. Pay is clearly one of the issues, as are working conditions. Any efforts regarding retention are not working at present. The Minister of State has stated he understands the challenges but there is concern that lack of pay and low morale are not being addressed. People respond every day by leaving the Defence Forces.

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