Dáil debates

Tuesday, 17 November 2020

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions

Defence Forces Remuneration

5:20 pm

Photo of Cian O'CallaghanCian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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38. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if the proposed commission on the Defence Forces will provide recommendations on outstanding and unresolved issues on pay, conditions and union recognition; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37036/20]

Photo of Cian O'CallaghanCian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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I wish to ask the Minister for Defence if the outstanding issues on pay, conditions and union recognition that have affected morale in our Defence Forces and on the retention of key personnel and skills will be resolved.

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy's question referred to the proposed commission on the Defence Forces but I am very happy to answer that question and any supplementary questions he may have.

The establishment of a commission on the Defence Forces was an important commitment made in the recently agreed programme for Government.  The programme for Government states that the commission will be tasked with undertaking a comprehensive review, which will include the following matters: arrangements for the effective defence of the country at land, air and sea; structures for governance, joint command, and control structures; the brigade structure; pay and allowances and composition of the Defence Forces; recruitment, retention and career progression; the contribution of the Reserve Defence Force, RDF, including its legislation and Defence Forces regulations governing it; and whether specialists from the RDF should be able to serve overseas.

The programme for Government also provides that the commission be established before the end of this year with a mandate to report within 12 months. I am working with officials in my Department in order to ensure this timeline for the establishment of the commission is more than met.  I hope it will be established by the end of this month is we can.

My immediate priority concerns the commission’s terms of reference. In accordance with a commitment made in the programme for Government, I have consulted widely on the terms of reference and analysis of all of the various submissions received, including one from the Deputy, is still ongoing. In this regard, I expect to finalise draft terms of reference for the commission shortly and to bring proposals to Government for approval in the coming weeks.

On the recommendations of the commission on pay and other issues, I cannot pre-empt the outcome of the commission's work but I would point out that the programme for Government states that on completion of the commission's work a permanent pay review body is be established reflecting the unique nature of military service in the context of the public service. It also states that all recommendations by the commission, or the successor body, and their implementation must be consistent with national public sector wage policy.

Photo of Cian O'CallaghanCian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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It is good to hear there is some speed in terms of establishing the commission by the end of this month. Previous reviews have not been acted on.

For example, the review into technicians' pay and grading, which was promised as part of the Croke Park agreement 2010-14, has not yet been published. It is long overdue. Will it be published and if so, when? When will the recommendations of the high-level implementation plan, which covers issues like patrol allowance and living conditions, be implemented? It is very important that we address these kinds of issues, which have been dragging on for years without resolution and have affected morale in our Defence Forces. They have also affected our ability to retain key personnel and skills and have resulted in a loss of capacity and naval ships being at shore for months. When will these issues be addressed?

5:30 pm

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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They are being addressed as we speak. Much of the high-level implementation plan has been and continues to be implemented but it is true that some elements still remain. We are keeping a channel of communication open with the representative bodies within the Defence Forces, that is, PDFORRA and the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers, RACO, to make sure they understand the timelines around implementation. There have been some delays, primarily due to Covid, but I assure the Deputy there is no resistance in the Department to implementing those recommendations in full.

On technical pay, there is a particular issue around allowances for certain technical positions within the Defence Forces across the Air Corps, Naval Service and Army. We are anxious to progress that as soon as we can and it will be raised in the context of the public sector pay talks. There is a lot going on. This morning I had a discussion with the Secretary General of the Department of Defence about progressing the commitments and recommendations within the White Paper on defence that still need to be progressed. There is much happening in this space. I assure the Deputy that we are absolutely committed to moving these things forward.

Photo of Cian O'CallaghanCian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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Again, when will the review into technicians' pay and grading be published? It was part of the Croke Park agreement. Will the matter of personnel in post-1994 contracts being aged out because of arbitrary cut-offs be addressed? We do not know what is going to happen with fisheries and Brexit but will the Minister agree that it is vital we have full operational capacity in our Naval Service in that context? We need that full operational capacity now. These issues must be fully addressed within that timeframe.

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy has shown a real interest in the Naval Service and its capacity, and for good reason. The Naval Service is significantly under strength at the moment. As a result of that, two ships that should be at sea do not have the capacity to go to sea because we do not have the crews to crew them. We are trying to address that. We worked for more than three months with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to put in place a new scheme for the Naval Service, which was essentially a going to sea incentive scheme to get people to commit to going to sea for two of the next four years. I think that scheme will be successful. We are finalising the terms of its implementation with representative bodies at the moment. It effectively gives people who commit to the scheme €10,000, or €5,000 per year that they commit to go to sea, on top of their patrol duty allowance and the extended tax credit for going to sea. That latter proposal came from the Department of Finance and the credit will be increased for next year on the back of what was available this year. We are trying to ensure the recruitment and retention issues in the naval service are addressed in a targeted way.