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

As the Deputy knows, I was not Minister for Defence this time last year, nor was he his party's spokesperson on defence. There are a number of factors at play, of which the buoyant employment market is a key one. We have been close to full employment over the past two years. There is significant evidence that private industry has recruited a lot of our naval personnel and other staff from other agencies. It is an employees' market and has been for the past two to three years. Notwithstanding that, we have significantly improved pay allowances and other benefits such as healthcare. More than that will be required, which is why we brought in external recruitment specialists to identify and improve the processes and methods by which people are recruited into the Defence Forces. The cultural transformation is also important. In addition, it is important to address the issues around training and induction of new recruitments. I have been saying to the Defence Forces leadership that these issues need review and evaluation with a view to encouraging throughput, which is not just about getting people into the training programmes but maintaining them right through to recruitment and beyond.

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