John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for the response. I disagree with his assessment that the 1994 contracts are not causing a huge difficulty or having a bearing on the retention crisis in the Defence Forces. Retention and recruitment are the biggest issues facing the Defence Forces. This is plain for anyone to see because the level of turnover of personnel in the Defence Forces is leading to dysfunctionality. We see this in the Naval Service, where a number of our naval vessels are tied up due to personnel shortages. If these trends are allowed to continue, the impact on operating with these levels of reduced numbers will have a significant detrimental effect on the ability of the Defence Forces at all levels and with all duties.

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