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

The Deputy highlighted an important area. The way in which we solve the recruitment and retention issues in the Defence Forces will not simply be through a large intake in a very short space of time, because that has consequences from the perspective of training, command and control, experience and so on. That is why we have an ongoing discussion with the Defence Forces and the Chief of Staff and his team, on how we can maximise the number of people coming in each year and, at the same time, ensure we have appropriate training procedures to ensure we maintain the skill sets and leadership we need within the Defence Forces to deliver on what is asked of them.

The figure I gave was that 31%, rather than 35%, of commissioned officers have been inducted in the past five years. Either way, it is approximately one in three officers and we need to make sure we hold on to the experience in the Defence Forces, where possible. The direction of travel the commission report will provide in terms of certainty, ambition and resources may well, I hope, encourage many people to stay in the Defence Forces for longer and, in doing so, hold on to that very important experience.

We have very significant skill sets within the Defence Forces. Sometimes those skill sets are targeted from outside and people are headhunted out of the Defence Forces, be they pilots, engineers, cybersecurity experts or drivers. We need to try to make sure that what drives people to join the Defence Forces remains burning in them in terms of their willingness to stay and serve their country. A series of factors need to be taken into account for that.

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