Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and his officials to the House. His speech was very comprehensive and will be read by the representative bodies. Like three other Senators, I have been nominated to the House since 2002 by PDFORRA and RACO, which are part of the Irish Conference of Professional and Service Associations, ICPSA, the organisation that nominates seven Senators. It is a matter for the nominated Senators to get elected, of course. Senator Craughwell is also nominated by ICPSA as are Senators Ned O'Sullivan and Robbie Gallagher. We take that position very seriously. Those organisations give us the responsibility to work with them as representatives in Oireachtas. PDFORRA and RACO are not unions but representative bodies. I know the Minister of State has been very attentive in attending all the functions, dinner and events and that he respects their input into the work he is doing. They have the interests of their personnel in sight, naturally, and so has the Minister of State with overall responsibility for the Defence Forces.

Irish people rightly take great pride in our Defence Forces and the contribution made by the Permanent Defence Force, the Reserve Defence Force and by Civil Defence. We all agree that the single greatest asset the Defence Forces have is their personnel, yet the Defence Forces are facing huge difficulty in retaining and recruiting sufficient personnel, as was mentioned by the Minister of State. The Defence Forces are now seriously below strength and it is time to significantly rebuild. The decline over recent years has left the force with just 9,057 personnel, some 443 below the current agreed strength. Two huge recruitment campaigns in 2016 and 2017 have resulted in no overall increase. Retention is a major problem with exit from the Defence Forces by all ranks running on average at almost 60 a month.

Ireland needs to recommit to its Defence Forces and its defence capability. Fianna Fáil believes that we should look to increase our Defence Forces to 10,500 in coming years but we also believe that it just as important to retain what we have. There is a recruitment drive under way at present which I hope will be successful. I would certainly encourage young men and women to join the Defence Forces. It is a very exciting role and a tremendous contribution to the State. Their work abroad in the Mediterranean and on overseas peace missions is recognised throughout the world. The training of our Defence Forces is second to none in the world. We have an enormous reputation as peace makers and peace maintainers in different regions of the world. We are very proud of that work.

PDFORRA and RACO, which represents the officers, do an excellent job in representing their personnel. One of the more remarkable claims from the October 2017 PDFORRA conference was that the soldiers, sailors and air crews lost a combined 146,000 days annual leave in the past five years. This happened primarily because reduced numbers in the Defence Forces meant they had to plug gaps. PDFORRA estimates that this saved the Department of Defence anything between €17 million and €22 million. The PDFORRA general secretary, Gerry Guinan, said shortages in personnel mean bomb disposal officers are working an average of 76 hours a week, while NCOs are doing 56 hours a week and drivers anything up to 60 hours per week. They want to see the immediate implementation of the EU working time directive for members of the Defence Forces. PDFORRA points out that as far back as 2013, the Government was aware that the EU working time directive applies to members of the Defence Forces, yet here we are in 2017 with still no word on the implementation of this legislation in respect of members of the Defence Forces. The members of the Defence Forces need and deserve clarity. Furthermore, the Department of Defence is failing to provide for the provision of the Paternity Leave and Benefit Act 2016 to serving personnel. Outgoing PDFORRA president, Mark Scally, said that it was clearly intended for this legislation to benefit members of the Defence Forces like everybody else. One therefore has to ask why that legislation is not being brought forward.

PDFORRA is now campaigning for the restoration of the Saturday and Sunday premium rates. I know the Minister of State is well disposed towards their claim although he has to negotiate with the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform. PDFORRA is very anxious to resolve the matter and restore the allowance. I hope it will be possible to have that implemented.

In respect of the Air Corps, we are aware of the number of pilots who are being recruited by the private sector. That is why the Minister of State and the Government will have to look at the whole pay rate structure for our pilots. We have very well trained and effective pilots and the State spends quite an amount of money in their recruitment and training. They are sought after by every airline in the world. Safety is a major factor. I have experienced how they work. When I was a Minister of State with responsibility for trade, I was in their company in the Government jet on trade missions. Their care and attention to duty was second to none. Ryanair, Aer Lingus and all the other airlines are anxious to recruit those excellent men and women. In the circumstances, special consideration is required of the Minister of State to retain them.

I commend our Naval Service and the work it is doing in the Mediterranean. It has saved a great number of lives in the last few years. I give absolute credit to its members. I commend the Minister of State on his work. He is accessible to the representative bodies and I am very pleased about that. I know he is being very attentive to his duties and is taking them very seriously. I have a lot more that I could say but I only have eight minutes. I thank PDFORRA and RACO for their friendship over the years to me as a representative in the Seanad who is nominated by them through the ICPSA. I have always respected that nomination. It is my duty and responsibility to highlight the issues as my colleagues have done in this House. It is a tremendous responsibility and asset for them to be in a position to have four Senators elected to his House. It gives them a voice and they certainly use it very respectfully and keep us well briefed.