Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to begin by thanking the Minister of State's office for the constructive engagement it had with myself and my staff on Lebanon and the UNIFIL soldiers returning home. I was contacted by many constituents who were left struggling with everyday issues such as childcare and work duties. The decision made by the Secretary General of the United Nations to suspend the rotations was extremely unfair and it had a negative impact on the families of the soldiers concerned. I welcome that the rotations have been put back in place, with the first being on 21 June followed by the second on 29 June. I want to stress to the Minister of State that he ensures that all military personnel are returned home on those dates because it has a hugely negative impact on families of members of the Defence Forces.

I was contacted last week by RACO. It is deeply concerned that the number of Defence Forces personnel continues to decrease and is now at an all time low of 8,485. This issue has been raised with me many times by people involved in the Defence Forces and their families. They are extremely concerned. RACO has also called for immediate and significant intervention in the form of retention initiatives, to include improved remuneration and other non-pay measures. According to RACO, the initial and modest pay commission recommendations have not stemmed the outflow, while the Government's plan to strengthen our Defence Forces is being allowed to fail despite commitments to the contrary. Has the Minister of State received the submission from RACO? What actions will he be taking to address the legitimate and genuine concerns it raises? RACO is severely critical of the recent report issued on the Defence Forces by the Parliamentary Budget Office. It is being claimed that the Parliamentary Budget Office report on recruitment, retention and remuneration only uses data up to 2017 and relies on Department of Defence and Department of Public Expenditure and Reform figures and trend analyses.

According to RACO, however, the situation has become much worse in subsequent years and vacancies have increased by a staggering 310%. These developments must be highlighted to provide accurate and complete advice on the Defence Forces to the Houses of the Oireachtas because this issue has come up here time and again and it is very important that the correct figures and the true reflection are conveyed. Is the Minister of State aware of these claims regarding the inaccuracies in the budget office report? Normally I find our Parliamentary Budget Office to be exemplary, but this is a serious charge being levelled against it by RACO and it needs to be addressed and clarified. We cannot allow the impression to go out that the PBO is somehow deliberately misleading the House.

Finally, I wish to highlight the incident in which three Irish soldiers received minor injuries when an improvised explosive device exploded near their convoy in eastern Mali on Tuesday, 25 February. As the Minister of State is aware, there was serious concern last year when the decision was taken to send our troops to Mali. Many people raised particular concerns that such missions continue to erode any meaningful sense of neutrality we have. My question is whether there continues to be any real value to the so-called triple lock guarantee on our neutrality.

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