John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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7. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the measures currently in place to assist in preparing serving members of the Defence Forces for re-entry into civilian life; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34831/21]

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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The obvious priority for the Defence Forces is to create the conditions that make members want to continue serving for as long as possible. However, the reality is that large numbers are leaving, many of them ahead of schedule and many others due to retirement. What plans or measures are in place to assist people leaving the Defence Forces in preparing for civilian life?

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy. Our preference is, of course, to keep people in the Defence Forces for as long as possible. As a serving member approaches retirement, either on age grounds or voluntarily, a range of supports is made available to him or her by the Defence Forces. Transition to civilian life courses are conducted by personnel support service teams throughout the year aimed at personnel who are retiring on age grounds or simply considering a change of career. This course was formerly called the pre-retirement training course but the name was changed in acknowledgement that personnel are not always retiring when they leave the military.

Transition to civilian life courses are of two to three days' duration and are conducted across the organisation. All serving members are encouraged to undertake a course at least once during their career and within three years of leaving the Defence Forces. As part of the course, personnel receive advice and guidance on all aspects of retirement. This includes education on what to expect after leaving the Defence Forces, covering change, relationships, financial matters, health and time management. Personnel also receive information about how others have dealt successfully with these life changes. The purpose of the course is to enable personnel to anticipate changes in their lives and ease the transition to civilian life.

In addition, personnel may avail of assistance from the personnel support service and occupational health services, as required. Advice and guidance are available on a confidential one-to-one basis from personnel support service teams on all issues related to leaving the Defence Forces, including pensions and finance, health, psychosocial issues and preparation for career change. My Department has also arranged the provision of a confidential counselling, referral and support service dealing with a wide range of personal and work-related issues, which can be availed of by serving members of the Defence Forces, civilian employees and Civil Defence members.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister. I expect he will acknowledge that due to limitations on the contracts of members of the Defence Forces and given that the majority probably joined in their late teens, many will be exiting the forces in their 30s or 40s, at a time in their lives when they have young families and huge financial commitments. The Minister's response, unfortunately, seems to suggest something of a handwashing exercise, with the bare minimum being done to assist members out the gate. This does not give regard to the huge amount of experience built up members of the Defence Forces and the fact they still have a great deal to offer the State and the economy. I would like to hear about the vocational training and education advice given to personnel. I would also like to know how many members partake in the transition to civilian life courses to which the Minister referred.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Further initiatives arising from the 2015 White Paper on Defence will be developed. I was very much involved in ensuring the White Paper was quite ambitious in this area. Initiatives include the implementation of systems, procedures and scheduled training to ensure preparedness for the transition to civilian life after military service, the development of a career platform or portal for exiting personnel to give them a direct bridge to employers and assist them in making the transition to a career in civilian life, and the creation of a career portfolio for interested exiting members of the Permanent Defence Force, listing their military qualifications alongside the level of the qualification on the national framework of qualifications, NFQ, where relevant. We have been looking at how we can match the significant skill set of personnel leaving the Defence Forces - that skill set being the reason so many people in the forces get headhunted by the private sector - to potential new employment and, in that way, help to make the transition as smooth as possible.

John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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I am not sure whether the Minister has the statistics to hand as to how many members participate in the transition to civilian life courses. That provision is critical but what the Minister has outlined does not go far enough when we consider the supports that, rightly, have been built around employees in other sectors, such as the Bord na Móna workers. We need to look at something like that for members of the Defence Forces, who still have a huge amount to give to the State. My preference, which I am sure is shared by everyone, is to ensure we create the conditions to keep people in the Defence Forces for as long as possible. That must be the primary objective but there will be reasons members want to leave. There are people hitting retirement at 50 years of age and even younger who still have a great deal to offer.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The first priority is to ensure people get a rewarding return from their career in the Defence Forces. That means constant development of skill sets. It means certainty of income. It means adventure, which is what many people join the Defence Forces for. It means serving their country with pride. Of course, if people want to leave the Defence Forces having served there for a period of time we want to ensure we can help them in the transition back to civilian life. Some of them are tempted out of the Defence Forces because of offers they are given and that is a reflection of how highly thought of our Defence Forces are, as far as training, standards, discipline, work rate, fitness, skill set and so on are concerned. I assure the Deputy it is a priority to ensure that when people make the decision to leave or when they are required to retire but may still want to work in other sectors, they are given all the support needed to do that.