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

I thank the Deputy for his kind comments on my appointment as Minister for Defence and for his heartfelt comments on the very sad passing of Private Seán Rooney. I visited his comrades in Lebanon last week. We can talk about that later.

As the Deputy is aware, the Defence Forces are currently excluded from the provisions of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, which transposed the European working time directive into Irish law. However, the Government has committed to amending this Act and bringing both the Defence Forces and An Garda Síochána within the scope of its provisions, where appropriate in light of the nature of some of their duties. The responsibility for preparing the legislative framework required to bring the Defence Forces within the scope of the Act lies with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. My officials are continuing to engage actively with that Department to progress these changes.

A significant amount of work undertaken by military management has determined that a high percentage of the normal everyday work of the Defence Forces is already in compliance with the working time directive.  However, it has also been determined that there are some activities which may be outside the scope of the directive due to their very specific nature.  A robust time and attendance system is also an essential element in ensuring that the provisions of the working time directive are properly afforded to serving members of the Defence Forces and progress on this matter is also a priority.

Extensive deliberations between Department of Defence officials and the military authorities on these matters have been informed by the interpretation of recent European case law on military service as well as by the fundamental requirement to ensure that rights are afforded to serving members while ensuring that the Defence Forces can continue to fulfil their essential State functions.  I am pleased to say that dialogue with the representative associations on a proposed management position is continuing and I am aware that a number of issues raised by the associations are actively being examined by civilian-military management.  We should allow space for this dialogue to continue. I hope we will see the outcome of that dialogue relatively quickly.

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