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

There are issues, but if people are leaving the Defence Forces because they are targeted by a private sector that wants to offer them more money, then this is a choice people will make. We cannot chase the private sector in pay levels all the time. There are many, highly qualified and talented people in the Defence Forces who get job offers to leave the Defence Forces because of the skill sets they have. We must respect those decisions. People also leave other parts of the public sector in the same way. We face turnover. The challenge we face currently in the Defence Forces is that our starting point is significantly below where it should be and we have not been recruiting at the same pace as the turnover of people leaving. We are, of course, looking at that.

The recent pay agreement results in pay increases and looks at a number of other positive issues for the Defence Forces. We have an independent commission on the Defence Forces and on its future which will report before the end of the year. It has been asked to look at pay structures and allowances. We committed in the programme for Government to set up a specific pay body for the Defence Forces to recognise the uniqueness of service in the Defence Forces. We are doing a lot in this space to address the genuine problems that are there.

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