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

The Government decision is as it is; it is as has been taken. My task is to move forward quickly to implement the recommendations. Of the 38 early actions to be completed within six months, about two thirds have been achieved to date. That includes the head of transformation and the head of strategic HR positions being advertised externally and progressed. It also includes implementation and governance structures being developed and initiated, including the establishment of an implementation oversight group. I have gone through the specifics of the requirements for three-star private able seamen and so forth and I mention the recruitment and induction strategies. There will also be a fundamental legislative change, not just in the context of the organisation of working time directive but also a new defence Act. I have asked my officials to progress work on that legislation and to develop capacity within the Department to set about fundamentally updating and modernising defence legislation to take cognisance of the recommendations of the commission. I will be focusing strongly on that aspect.

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