Ryan O'Meara (Tipperary North, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

160. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence when the professional instructor payment will be paid to commissioned officer instructors in the Defence Forces, as committed to by the Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17824/25]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I ask this question on behalf of Deputy O'Meara. As the Tánaiste will know, Uachtarán na hÉireann today paid tribute to members of the Civil Defence. Ireland's Civil Defence has been in existence for 75 years. I am sure we all compliment them on the great work they do in our local communities.

I welcome the Tánaiste's announcement during the week regarding instructor allowances for officers in the Defence Forces. The announcement of instructor payments for officer members who are heavily relied on to plan, supervise and deliver crucial training along with their non-commissioned instructor colleagues is a vital measure in recruitment and retention, which we spoke about earlier. Will the Tánaiste let us know when this particular measure will be implemented?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I join with Deputy Smith and Uachtarán na hÉireann in paying tribute to our Civil Defence volunteers. It is an incredible organisation. While lots of things did not go to plan during Storm Éowyn, I was briefly in Monaghan in the Deputy's constituency while on the way back from somewhere else and met some of the Civil Defence volunteers and the work they did was incredible. I know that was replicated right across the country. I was in Roscommon opening the new state-of-the-art Civil Defence headquarters only a couple of weeks ago. Deputy Smith is right to pay tribute to the Civil Defence, particularly in the year of its 75th anniversary. All of us on all sides of the House thank the volunteers for what they do.

The Deputy will have seen my recent announcement confirming the introduction of a payment to officer instructors in the Defence Forces. Over recent months, my Department has engaged with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, with a view to recognising the upskilling of officer instructors through the introduction of a professional instructor payment. I thank the Minister, Deputy Chambers, for working with me on this. The security of the State and its citizens must be a key priority for any government. It is our most solemn obligation. In that context, this Government has committed to strengthening our Defence Forces. Of course, to strengthen the Defence Forces, we rely heavily on the expertise and experience of instructors, who deliver high-quality training programmes to new recruits.

These programmes act as a key driver to transform culture and to modernise the Defence Forces to ensure that the State has a professional Defence Forces capable of undertaking roles assigned by Government.

In order to achieve the necessary scale of change, the Commission on the Defence Forces report highlighted core areas that needed to be addressed, including the transformational change to modernise the organisation's culture through re-engaging in a different way with its core values, renewing its contract with its people, and with modern work practices. A higher level of education of specialism is, therefore, now required for officer ranks as well. Professional instructors will play a critical role in ensuring the training is carried out in relation to that culture. This is an important incentivising measure. The new measure will apply to nearly 100 officer rank instructors who must possess advanced education specialist expertise and substantial experience. It will be restricted to those officers serving as instructors in the Defence Forces training roles who have completed the required instructor courses.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Tánaiste for his reply. I will ask just one further supplementary question, given that other Members are waiting to ask questions also. The Tánaiste will be aware of another issue of interest to Defence Forces' organisations, which is the finding of the defence sector arbitration board on 18 November. It upheld a ruling that the terms and conditions the director of military prosecutions should be amended to remove the prohibition on that officeholder holding membership of a representative association. I believe this issue may have not yet come to the Tánaiste's attention. I do not believe that person should be barred from holding membership of a representative organisation if he or she so wishes.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank Deputy Smith for bringing that matter to my attention. I will, in consultation with my officials, reflect on that judgment, and no doubt in my engagement with representative bodies. I look forward to visiting a number of their conferences and we will have an opportunity to further discuss that. I am happy to come back to the Deputy once I have considered the issue.