John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the commission for its efforts in producing this report. While I do not agree with 100% of its contents, it is a timely and comprehensive report. It outlines a litany of failures under the Minister's watch. That includes the failure to implement previous reports such as the White Paper on Defence and the high-level implementation plan. Essentially, the report deals with the legacy of the Minister's failures.

The Minister's inability to address the core issues at the heart of the Defence Forces has resulted in the steady and alarming rate of departure from the Defence Forces by its members. It is now an enduring major crisis. Retention and recruitment are the primary issues affecting the operational effectiveness of the Defence Forces. This is largely due to years of neglect of matters relating to pay and conditions by the Government.

The Minister's refusal to allow the representative associations of the Defence Forces to affiliate to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU remains as a key concern to members of the Defence Forces. The capacity of representative associations such as PDFORRA or the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers, RACO, to input into public sector pay policy, particularly as it relates to the commissions, is crucial for members. PDFORRA has made it clear that it is prepared to withdraw its legal action on the issue of affiliation to ICTU when the Minister advises that he is prepared to grant the Defence Forces representative groups the right to association.

That right is enjoyed by members of various defence forces right across Europe. It would be illogical for the Minister to continue with a policy of withholding permission for PDFORRA to associate with ICTU only to come to some agreement on the steps of a court. The worst possible outcome for PDFORRA would be for the group to withdraw its court action only for the Minister and Government to then deny permission for the right to associate. In that case, PDFORRA would not be allowed to enter its case again at any stage. It is time for the Minister to listen. It is time to listen to the growing list of independent voices who have now effectively sanctioned the granting of association, which includes the European Committee of Social Rights, ECSR, the Barry review, this commission and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE. The granting of associate status can be achieved by the Minister through the powers he has. With the pay talks coming up there is a real danger failure to act will result in members of the Defence Forces being excluded again. That must not be allowed to happen.

I welcome the commission's recommendation there be a removal of the exclusion of the Defence Forces from the working time directive. Personnel shortages in the Defence Forces mean that serving members are being forced to make up the shortfall. In real terms, this can mean serving at sea or being on overseas deployments lasting months on a repeated basis. RACO has continually highlighted we are at serious risk of being unable to fulfil our UN mandate, and that is even with mandatory selection for overseas deployment, something that is leading to huge volumes of burnout. There has been no attempt to record the hours worked by personnel, which would reveal the true picture, namely, that the current strength of the Defence Forces is much worse than the Minister would concede. The working time directive needs to be fully implemented without delay.

The Minister also needs to acknowledge the need to examine the case for the implementation of a specialised instructor's allowance. A qualified instructor who volunteers for specialised training immediately signs himself or herself on for up to 60 or 70 hours per week for which there is no extra payment. In the modern world with family and community commitments that is simply not feasible. Consequently, the Defence Forces are left with a shortage of qualified instructors. The Minister knows well that 35% of Defence Forces members have less than five years' experience. The knowledge, skill and learning of experienced personnel and their ability to transfer that to less-experienced colleagues will largely determine the shape and calibre of the Defence Forces for a long time. I have received, as I am sure the Minister has, reports of the consequences of the skills shortages, such as cancelled training courses, a failure to deliver adequate live-fire exercises and indeed many near misses. The accumulation of these issues on the morale of the Defence Forces is feeding the exodus of personnel.

I welcome the proposals relating to the Reserve Defence Force. One proposal that can be fast-tracked relates to the recruitment process. Too much potential and talent is being lost due to the extended and unnecessary time it takes to process applications. Employment laws also need to be updated immediately to protect members of the Reserve because there is a wealth of talent, commitment and skill in it that needs to be utilised to its full potential.

The core of the debate surrounding the role of the Defence Forces centres on the principle of neutrality. This principled position enjoys the support the overwhelming majority of people. Many opinion polls have consistently shown support levels for neutrality are in and around 80%. Ireland as a sovereign nation has accrued considerable prestige and respect based on our neutrality. Neutrality has gifted our small nation a platform in international affairs that far exceeds the economic, political or military strength of our small island. It is a platform from which Ireland can meet the expectations of those nation that have invested their faith in our country. Central to our ability to remain neutral and retain our levels of international prestige and influence is the capacity of our Defence Forces to defend our neutrality from threat. While we are nominally free from formal involvement in any military alliance, Government support for and participation in PESCO challenged this, and we are yet absolutely and completely militarily dependent on our European neighbours. The safety of our skies is dependent on an agreement with the British Government that allows the Royal Air Force to provide flight interdiction in specific emergencies. This agreement embarrasses the Government to the point it appears to have difficulty even acknowledging its existence.

As an island nation, our seas represent one of our nation's richest and most strategically important assets yet we are again depending on our EU neighbours to provide naval patrols to guarantee the security of our seas, even within our 12-mile zone. Recent events have exposed our vulnerability of the hybrid nature of modern threats to the State and the human cost of the cyberattack on the HSE has yet to be fully determined. The continual cancellation of naval patrols, with ten in January alone, is seriously impacting on the ability of the State to disrupt the importation of illegal drugs. The cost of that is paraded across our TV screens daily. We remain unable to protect our fisheries. The debacle over Russia's intention to hold naval drills off our southern coast clearly illustrated the ineffectiveness of Ireland's ability to not only secure seas or indeed our airspace but our inability to secure vital transatlantic data cables and air routes. The proportion of transatlantic civilian air traffic that passes through our exclusive economic zone, EEZ, is 75%, yet we lack the capacity to secure its safety.

We need to see the principle of neutrality protected by enshrining it in our Constitution via a referendum. We need to invest in our Defence Forces to ensure our nation has the capacity to defend its security. As I have outlined, the first step to securing the establishment number of our Defence Forces is to halt the exodus of key personnel from ranks right across the Defence Forces. We must also provide the Defence Forces with the means to protect us. We need the means to secure our skies and indeed our seas. We need a cybersecurity system that actually works. We need the capacity to provide the necessary security to reap the potential benefits our coastal waters provide for investment in offshore energy infrastructure.

How the Government responds to this report will not only reveal its attitude to the members of the Defence Forces but its vision for Ireland's place and standing within the international community for years to come.

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