Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State and the Leader for facilitating this debate at my request. As the Minister of State knows, the first official review of the 2015 White Paper on Defence is due to commence in July. Even though the ten-year White Paper is only into its third year, the world is certainly a very changed place. Brexit, the uncertainty of a hard border, increased international terrorism, cyber-security, transnational organised crime and mass migration are all new challenges that the Defence Forces are facing. I have the utmost faith in the Minister of State's commitment and the capabilities of both the Department of Defence and military management to identify, map out and respond to the emerging situation and these challenges.What concerns me and many other stakeholders is the internal threat to the capability and stability of the Defence Forces due to a developing crisis in personnel retention. There is an article in the national newspapers on this problem nearly every day now and while I have congratulated the Minister of State on a very successful recruitment campaign last year, this campaign is being systematically undermined by what can only be described as a crisis in retaining those who have been recently recruited and in providing satisfactory contracts of employment for enlisted personnel, as well as career paths, pay and conditions of employment for those who already serve. Some 84% of those serving in the Defence Forces earn 13.8% less than the national average. Getting €20 for 24 hours' duty is not true compensation.

I agree with the White Paper that "continuous recruitment is the lifeblood of the Defence Forces; providing young, motivated and enthusiastic personnel to replenish military formations for operational deployments." The White Paper provides for rolling manpower planning but it does not appear to be working. An article in today's edition of the Irish Examinerpoints out that in 2016 alone, a total of 62 officers and 441 enlisted personnel left the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps voluntarily. Last October I raised the issue of new recruits leaving the forces to take up jobs in Tesco and warned that this crisis was coming down the line. I believe the Minister of State told us that 712 joined. Of that group, 576 left while in training and a further 31 cadets. It blows me away that cadets would actually walk out of the Defence Forces. It is not the Minister of State's fault; there are issues there.

Across the Defence Forces, a total of 2,496 recruits started training between 2013 and 2017. To date, 641 of them have left. In the same period a total of 2,831 personnel left, which represents 29.8% of the entire Defence Forces. Some 76% of those retiring were premature voluntary retirements with 34% having served five years or less. I understand that in 2019, a significant number of NCOs will be leaving the forces and we know that they are the lifeblood of any unit. The NCOs are the culture-forming members of any unit. Officers come and go; the NCOs remain on. This seems to have passed over the heads of the policy makers.

This brain and manpower drain is now at a level that could not have been envisaged by the White Paper, which makes scant reference to the issue of retention, which is conspicuous by its absence. This again points to a failure by the policy makers. Does the Department have retention policy in place and if so can the details of it be released?

As the Minister of State said, 9,500 established PDF personnel provides for the full staffing of each unit within the Defence Forces organisational structures. We know that strength at station is the key figure. In recent weeks we have seen how that has impacted on the Second Brigade and in particular on the 27th Infantry Battalion where three captains and two lieutenants are running an entire battalion. They have been augmented recently by one commandant. This is an outrageous breakdown in command and control. It is an operational issue and the Minister of State cannot be out there dealing with operational matters.

The current exodus is playing havoc with this. Several times last year the strength of the Defence Forces dipped below 9,000. We hear of personnel being redeployed to areas far from their homes, personnel acting up for long durations, and in some cases a complete breakdown of command and control.

There will be accidents. Already there have been three near misses with 0.5 calibre heavy machine guns. If such an accident takes place and if lives are lost, where will the indemnity lie? Who will be liable? Will it go all the way up to the Department or will it stop at the senior officer in charge? It is simply not workable to have a captain in charge of a battalion.

The jury is out on the two-brigade structure but is will be difficult to assess and review it with the current crisis in retention. The ripple effect of the retention crisis is enormous. For a start there is the cost of €4 million for replacing the officers who have left and €11 million in replacing the enlisted personnel. That is €15 million down the drain thus far.

As I have said, many are leaving in training. There is the loss of institutional and organisational knowledge, loss of motivation and morale as outlined in the University of Limerick climate survey. What is most worrying is that personnel from all ranks and specialties are leaving. Much is made of the fact that those leaving are the highly skilled technical personnel such as pilots, ordnance engineers, marine engineers, aeronautical engineers and other specialists. However, that only accounts for 30% of those who have left. The other 70% is made up of general service enlisted men and women.

Last year the Naval Service received well-deserved national and international recognition for its humanitarian missions in the Mediterranean yet at home it is a service in crisis. Recently P52, LÉ Niamh, put to sea with just four able seamen on board. It is reckless that an asset worth over €50 million is sent to sea understaffed. What happens if a fire takes place on board? Are crew there to take care of these things? I do not think so. If they are called into an operational situation, are they capable of handling it? I do not believe they are. What is happening with respect to drug interdiction controls and patrolling human trafficking, for which the Naval Service is responsible?

Since 2011 the Air Corps has lost 50 pilots. Pilots are being offered jobs paying up to €200,000 in the private sector. Another issue is the lack of qualified CASA pilots. I wonder whether any CASA aircraft take off any more. Again this is not an issue for the Minister of State but for the operational people. I ask him to see if he can get the matter addressed.

I know that the Defence Forces have a number of recommendations, not least of which would be a separate pay review body for those who serve in uniform. As the one-size-fits-all of the national pay rounds does not fit the uniformed services, we should look at that.

Focusing on the low paid is one thing but raising the pay of the lower paid and leaving the ranks above without an increase in pay, closes the gap between lower ranks and the next up the line. The people up the ranks are getting tired and are deciding to leave. I received a text today from a woman whose husband was aged 50. She has three young children. He is finishing because he has to on an age basis, but he has nowhere to go and nothing to do.

The Minister of State is about to review the White Paper and reconsider the reorganisation that took place in 2012. I wish him luck with it. If I can be of any help on it, I will try.