Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Further initiatives arising from the 2015 White Paper on Defence will be developed. I was very much involved in ensuring the White Paper was quite ambitious in this area. Initiatives include the implementation of systems, procedures and scheduled training to ensure preparedness for the transition to civilian life after military service, the development of a career platform or portal for exiting personnel to give them a direct bridge to employers and assist them in making the transition to a career in civilian life, and the creation of a career portfolio for interested exiting members of the Permanent Defence Force, listing their military qualifications alongside the level of the qualification on the national framework of qualifications, NFQ, where relevant. We have been looking at how we can match the significant skill set of personnel leaving the Defence Forces - that skill set being the reason so many people in the forces get headhunted by the private sector - to potential new employment and, in that way, help to make the transition as smooth as possible.

See this speech in context