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

I want to take a moment to acknowledge all those who have sadly lost their lives due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

More that 1,600 people have died here in the past two and a half months. As we have heard, these are not statistics on a page; each case represents families who have lost loved ones dear to them. We honour their memories while continuing to do everything we can to keep rates of infection down and overcome the virus.

As has been mentioned, the Defence Forces have played a central role in the national front-line response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Today is a welcome opportunity to commend their work and remind people of our reliance on Óglaigh na hÉireann, which continually rises to the challenge in the most testing of circumstances. As is the case with the health services, the gardaí and all of our emergency services, our Defence Forces' greatest strength is the character of the personnel we call upon who serve this country and their communities with great bravery, courage and commitment.

Equally impressive has been the continuance of essential non-Covid duties throughout all of this upheaval, such as our peacekeeping operations throughout the world. I have received a huge volume of contacts from family members of those serving on missions in Lebanon and I know the rotation and return of these personnel is causing great concern for their families who are anxiously awaiting their return. I understand there is unhappiness with how developments on this have been communicated to them and the need for better communication. This is an issue I have raised directly with the Minister.

Separately, I am pleased and relieved to see the necessary arrangements have been put in place to ensure our two peacekeepers have been returned from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The safety and well-being of our personnel is paramount in all of our overseas peacekeeping duties.

Ultimately, poor pay and conditions continue to overshadow many aspects of the Defence Forces, who remain the worst paid in the public service. It is no surprise to see the ongoing concerning rates of turnover and not meeting the White Paper target strength of 9,500. As has been mentioned, the strength is now below 8,500, which is well below the minimum strength figure. Last year, the Defence Forces suffered a net loss of 265, with 870 departing and only 605 being inducted. This represents a concerning trend.

My questions relate to the Defence Forces high level implementation plan. I have to say I am very concerned that eight out of the 15 projects are significantly behind schedule. The pay review of technical grades 2 to 6 was presented to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in January and we are a number of months on, almost in the summer. The representative associations were sceptical when the report was published last summer that things would not be followed through and they would not see this being implemented. If the implementation plan is failing and eight of the 15 projects are behind schedule or are not being followed through, it continues to raise morale issues and affects retention and our ability to recruit. Perhaps the Minister of State will give a more specific update on why very generic responses are given to the representative associations. Some projects were started eight months late. I can go through all of the projects but the Minister of State is better aware of them than I am. I am disappointed because when an implementation plan is put in place by the Department of the Taoiseach it should receive cross-departmental follow-through, particularly when we have such a recruitment and retention crisis in the Defence Forces. To see more than 50% of projects behind schedule and not meeting their deadline raises serious concerns about who is implementing the plan, why it has been delayed and why there is no follow-through. Covid cannot be the net excuse for this delay because it started last summer and I would like an explanation of where it is at. Will the delays be rectified soon because we are still seeing an increase in churn and turnovers? I would appreciate clarity on these matters. PDFORRA and RACO are very concerned about the follow-through. Their members and the Defence Forces, to whom we pay tribute today, need to see that politicians are serious about their issues. The implementation plan was the focus of the previous and current Governments. I would appreciate a brief update.

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