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

I thank the Deputy for raising the question. There is no doubt there is a significant recruitment and retention issue within our Defence Forces. Work is under way to counter these. Current recruitment initiatives include ongoing general service and direct entry recruitment, the re-entry schemes, and the Be More recruitment campaign. An important development is the joint induction training centre which has been established in Gormanston with a view to increasing the throughput of recruits destined for all branches of the Defence Forces, and the training syllabus for these recruits has been refined. The maximum age of entry has been increased to 29 years for general service recruits, cadets, apprentices and certain specialists. Fitness test scoring has also been amended to maximise induction levels. External human resources expertise has recently been engaged. This will assess Defence Forces recruitment and the candidate’s recruitment journey with a view to validation of current processes and appropriate recommendations, where required.

To address specific challenges in the Naval Service and in an effort to maximise the recruit pool, psychometric testing for Naval Service general service recruitment has been paused on a pilot basis for six months, with an analysis of the revised approach to take place at this point. A specific Naval Service recruitment campaign is in train, and a contract has recently been awarded to a marine specialist recruitment body to target individuals with the skills and expertise required by the Naval Service. A range of financial and non-financial retention measures have been introduced, such as service commitment schemes in the Air Corps and the Naval Service; tax measures; extension of private secondary medical care to all Defence Forces personnel; and significant progress on pay, which compares favourably with other areas in the public service. My immediate focus is on stabilising the numbers of personnel and facilitating the capacity for further increases. This will enable us to align ultimately with the level of ambition recommended in the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces and agreed by Government.

I assure the Deputy that career progression is comprehended in the Strategic Framework on the Transformation of the Defence Forces, which brings together into one plan the actions to be taken to support the transformation agenda. All relevant recommendations of the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces, including those pertaining to career progression, are included. Career and talent processes and promotion systems are specifically mentioned under the strategic human resources and cultural change to be delivered section.

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