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

I thank the Deputy. This is quite a precise question. I assume the Deputy is referring to paragraph 12 of Conditions Governing the Appointment of Medical Officers in the Defence Forces Medical Corps 2013 which is attached to CCR 451. These terms and conditions, specific to the 2013 medical officers recruitment campaign, were agreed with the representative association. They provided that on the recommendation of the Chief of Staff, a medical officer in the Defence Forces who is granted a commission without limitation as to time may be promoted from captain to commandant on completion of three years' service and fulfilling the required criteria as laid down for such a promotion. Exceptionally, these 2013 terms and conditions, which were developed at a time of severe difficulties in recruiting and retaining medical officers in the Defence Forces, removed the requirement of completing nine years’ service in accordance with paragraph 8(3)(a) of Defence Forces regulation, DFR, A15. The subsequent 2017 to 2018 medical officers terms and conditions reinstated the requirement to complete nine years' service before any medical officer commissioned on foot of that competition may be promoted from captain to commandant.

It is important to note that the representative association was fully consulted at all stages of the development of the 2017 to 2018 terms and conditions and provided extensive and constructive comments on a whole range of areas within these 2017 to 2018 terms and conditions prior to their finalisation. At no time did the representative association, during those consultations, object to the reinstatement of the nine year requirement in accordance with DFR A15. Accordingly, the provision set out in paragraph 12 of the 2013 terms and conditions was only applicable to those medical officers commissioned on foot of that specific 2013 competition. The exceptional condition was necessary to address recruitment and retention difficulties that pertained at that time. These difficulties no longer applied at the time the subsequent 2017 to 2018 terms and conditions were being developed and agreed with the representative association.

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