Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As I said, there is no security committee of Cabinet in the first instance. The main focus of the questions as they evolved is around pay, recruitment and retention. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and the Minister for Defence are engaged in terms of what measures can be taken, in particular to assist the Naval Service in its situation without creating issues for the wider public service pay agreement and pay framework. There are certain aspects that both Ministers and both Departments have been engaged in to facilitate some assistance for those who work in the Naval Service because, as has been articulated and as I myself have articulated, the overall strength of the Defence Forces is at 8,374. It was 8,724 in July last when the pay commission recommendations were accepted.

There are issues of both retention in, and recruitment to, the Defence Forces. The strength levels are continually impacted, even by the Covid-19 emergency. Covid-19 has resulted, for example, in the postponement of the majority of general service inductions that were planned to take place in the first half of the year. The planned induction was in the order of 310 personnel for the first half of 2020. The 2020 recruitment efforts have resulted in a total of 9,281 applications being received across 13 recruitment competitions. That issue of retention and recruitment of members to the Defence Forces continues to receive priority by Government.

The officer strength of 1,200, as of 31 August, represents 99% of the agreed establishment strength of 1,233. Certain officer ranks are under subscribed. Captains and others, such as lieutenants, are over subscribed. That will balance out over time.

A campaign to re-enlist and recommission former Permanent Defence Force, PDF, personnel has also yielded significant interest, with 736 applicants received. Ten personnel were re-enlisted as of 11 September. Three officers were recommissioned.

The establishment of the commission will be a further initiative designed to improve the situation overall in terms of the retention and recruitment of personnel to the Army, the Naval Service and the Air Corps.

Progress has been made on the implementation plan and the recommendations of the Public Service Pay Commission. There is the review of technical pay. They are the issues that are currently under consideration. Both Ministers are at an advanced stage in terms of the outcome of that technical review.

A report on incentivised long-service arrangements for certain officer and NCO ranks was completed and will be used to inform future pay negotiations. A final report on bespoke management training for leaders and managers was signed off by the project sponsors on 13 July.

There will be further initiatives undertaken. In terms of the commission on which the Minister will be bringing proposals to Government, that will create a further opportunity to look fundamentally at the Defence Forces and how can we ensure they are fit for purpose in terms of strength and capacity to retain over a sustained period of time personnel who enlist in them.

In terms of the union issue and ICTU, that is under ongoing consideration. There are issues to be fully thought through in terms of the long-term implications and the need to make sure that we are not in any way prevented from doing things for the Defence Forces that we need to do. The Defence Forces are key to underpinning our State, our society and our democracy. I worry that the numbers have been consistently below establishment for quite a number of years. That is something we need to redress and change for the future, and more permanently.

In terms of the issues that were raised in the context of the leaving certificate examination, I indicated already that the Department said that there were no further errors following its examination. Of course, the issues are ones that will be addressed comprehensively by the Minister later.

It needed to be dealt with in a comprehensive manner. Much of the work over the past number of days has been done by the Department officials going through what the implications of all of this are. That is necessary. We need to make sure that when this is announced, there are mechanisms in place to alleviate the anxiety students will undoubtedly have. There is no point going off half-cocked on an issue of this importance. For students and for people generally, it is important that the presentation by the Department and by the Minister is as comprehensive as it possibly can be at this juncture.

On the external group that has been brought in, its work needs to be conducted in a timely manner as well, subject to capacity, etc. My understanding is it will be done in a time-limited way so that it will not go on for any prolonged period of time.

As I said, the Minister is making a comprehensive statement today. I do not want to second guess any of that but that is the intention.

See this speech in context