Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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4. To ask the Minister for Defence if he will provide an update on any discussions or plans to revise the 21-year rule with regard to service in the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1392/15]

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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My question seeks to establish what sort of progress is being made in revising the 21-year rule as it applies to members of the Permanent Defence Force. I am aware that an adjudication is due on this matter on 30 January 2015. At the outset of the last Question Time at which this was discussed, we complimented the Minister on what he has done for the beef sector, but made the point that doing something about how the 21-year rule impacts on members of the Defence Forces is every bit as important to this sector of Irish society as the beef issue was to agriculture.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue again. I would have liked if this issue had been resolved by now. It has not but it will be shortly. I have outlined previously to the House that a claim has been received from PDFORRA on this matter and it is being dealt with under the conciliation and arbitration scheme for members of the Permanent Defence Force. Discussions have been taking place with the representative association on its claim under a special sub-committee of the conciliation council. As discussions under the scheme are confidential to the parties involved, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on the matter at this time, other than to emphasise that in dealing with this issue the manpower and operational needs of the Defence Forces must be the primary concern as well, of course, as treating people fairly.

As military life places unique physical and psychological demands on individuals, it is necessary that Defence Forces members be physically and mentally prepared to meet the challenges of all military operations and to undertake their duties on deployment overseas. It is vital the age and health profile of personnel be such as to ensure that operational capability and effectiveness are not compromised. As such, to maintain the age profile of the Permanent Defence Force to carry out the operational tasks required by Government, it is necessary to have a constant input of recruits into the Permanent Defence Force. The maximum age for personnel who have enlisted in the Permanent Defence Force since 1 January 1994 provides the mechanism through which a satisfactory age profile can be achieved.

While significant progress was made on this issue in recent discussions between PDFORRA and civil and military management, it was not possible to reach full agreement. As a result, the issue is being referred to third-party adjudication for a ruling. It is planned that the adjudication hearing will take place on 30 January, following the exchange of submissions between the parties.

In the meantime, work is continuing on exit support measures to support those due to be discharged. A number of military courses and other skills courses are already accredited with various third level institutions and professional bodies. In addition, a comprehensive training course to aid transition to civilian life for these personnel, which involves a skills appraisal and review of a person’s service history and training already provided, is being piloted. I hope that by the time we have our next Question Time, this issue will have been resolved.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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Can I take it the Minister will accept therefore the recommendation of the arbitrators in this matter? I emphasise again that much has changed since the 21-year contract was envisaged in 1994. Commandants can serve an additional two years, until they are aged 58; lieutenants can serve until they are aged 54; gardaí and prison officers can serve until they are aged 60 and firefighters, who have particularly challenging work, can serve until they are aged 58. We all subscribe to the view that our people must be physically and psychologically fit to undertake the particular challenges of the job. Going back to an earlier question, people are demonstrably fit, and the evidence for this is when one examines the public service as a whole one sees that members of the Permanent Defence Force have the least amount of sick leave awarded to them.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I would expect that. In my time as Minister for Defence I have been hugely impressed by our Defence Force personnel, at home and abroad, in southern Lebanon, Golan, Collins Barracks in Cork and other barracks throughout the country.

The fitness levels and benchmarks we have set and achieved for the Defence Forces mean that we have fitter, better-trained stronger Defence Forces personnel than we have ever had, which is as it should be.

I have deliberately stayed out of this debate because we do not need to make political decisions here. We need to make decisions that are fair to the individuals involved and that are right for the Defence Forces. I want a process to be finalised and a recommendation to come to me that I will look at. I do not want to be tied down here to implementing that to the letter, but I would be very surprised if the recommendations from that system when it is finalised were not fully implemented. I will wait and see those results.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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Am I to take it, therefore, that there is some degree of flexibility on the Minister's part; that he appreciates there is a problem; and that he is willing in his approach to this to find a solution to that problem that will inevitably have to provide for some additional service for people who have reached their late 30s or very early 40s and continue to be absolutely fit and capable of undertaking the particular challenges of the job?

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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It is important to understand that since 1994 when this was introduced initially there have been two renegotiations of that policy to reduce the overall age profile of members of the Defence Forces. It was extended from five years to 12 years and to 21 years. Now the 21 years is up. The Defence Forces have shown a willingness to be flexible in the past and I think some flexibility will also be shown this time.

However, the overriding objective must be to do what is best for the Defence Forces as a collective to ensure we have an influx of new Defence Forces personnel all the time. We also need to value the experience and training that many of those who have been in the Defence Forces for 20 years have and could still contribute in the future. It is about trying to balance all the considerations, and being fair and respectful to people who have served their country. That is why the process is under way and it is why we have taken our time to get it right. It would not be appropriate for a Minister to wade in before the process has concluded and try to determine what the outcome should be. I will wait for the outcome of the process and then we will finalise decisions.