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

What impact has that had on the retention crisis in the context of the implementation of the White Paper? There is a serious concern that all of the commitments mentioned in the White Paper have taken a complete back seat since the Minister of State published the Public Service Pay Commission report, and there is a complete information vacuum for the representative associations. The Minister of State has given little detail about what the outcome of the White Paper update is. Will he publish it? Many of the remarks he made at the Oireachtas committee were that he is reviewing the White Paper, and there is this ongoing review nonsense that he mentioned previously. He should publish it, review it and then update it, but that has not happened under his watch, despite the commitments. We have had no progress or update on the White Paper and there is a clear vacuum, as I said.

The representative associations want an update on the technician pay 2-6 review. Instead of it being another review, when will the outcome be outlined for the representative associations? To go back to the issue of the Army bomb disposal unit, which is a retention issue in the White Paper, the reason there can be a response is that people have to work 168 hours a week, 365 days a year, when they are not paid for that. This is why the Minister of State can respond. However, if he was to measure the capability, it is simply not there.

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