Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As the newly appointed Minister for Defence, I am fully committed to this and see the importance of it in the context not only of the recruitment, but the retention of personnel within the Defence Forces. It is important that the dialogue with the representative associations bears fruit. We could proceed with legislation oblivious to those engagements with the representative associations but, in dealing with a matter that relates to the organisation of working time in the context of the directive, it is important that we have fruitful engagement and dialogue with the representative associations. Management is also to submit a final position to me. It is important to get it right because it is complex. There is no point in pretending it is not because it is. However, I am determined to get this done.

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