Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State. I congratulate him on his appointment and wish him well.

As he is undoubtedly aware, even though this matter is not his particular area, the Defence Forces are faced with many challenges. One regularly hears about low morale, the recruitment and retention of staff and low pay. It is sad that many members of the Defence Forces must avail of family income supplement, FIS, to simply survive. With respect, not assigning a full Ministry to the defence portfolio sends out the wrong message. The current Minister responsible for the Defence Forces is doing a good job but I would much prefer if he could sit at the Cabinet table as it would afford him an opportunity to exert more power and influence on his Cabinet colleagues.

I have outlined many issues. Recently, leave entitlements for members of the Defence Forces were brought to my attention. At present, leave entitlements can be lost at the end of the year if a member of the Defence Forces who has been posted overseas for a mission has his or her term extended or if a member is on sick leave or falls pregnant. The loss of leave is unfair and the situation should not be allowed to continue. Interestingly, over the five-year period from 2001 to 2016, as many as 146,038 days were lost by members of the Defence Forces. That is a staggering figure. In monetary terms, the amount involved would be €22 million. I am sure that the Minister of State appreciates that people in any employment can get sick or fall pregnant. It is very sad that in such situations people lose their annual leave allotments if they are out sick at the time they were about to take their annual leave. People, through no fault of their own, can find themselves in these situations. The leave entitlement aspect needs to be addressed. Does the Minister intend to amend the Workplace Relations Act 2015? If so, the terms and conditions enjoyed by all workers could be enjoyed by the members of the Defence Forces, which is the least they deserve. There is a lack of respect for the Defence Forces and the leave entitlement issue is just another example. I am interested in hearing the comments that the Minister of State will make.

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Gallagher for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister of State at the Department of Defence, Deputy Kehoe, who, as a super junior Minister, sits at Cabinet. The Taoiseach has full responsibility for defence matters and sits at the Cabinet table so such matters are well covered.

Defence Force Regulations, DFR, A11, governs the granting of leave, other than sick leave, in the Permanent Defence Force.As part of normal personnel management, the granting of annual leave is a balance between the entitlement of the individual to annual leave and the requirement to ensure continuity of a public service. Paragraph 16 of DFR A11 provides for the carrying forward of annual leave, not granted or availed of in the leave year concerned. This can be of benefit both to the individual and the organisation. Officers may be allowed to carry forward a maximum of 24 days, non-commissioned officers and privates in the Army and Air Corps a maximum of 19 days, and non-commissioned officers and ordinary or able seamen of the Naval Service a maximum of 24 days. In addition, members are entitled to Defence Force holidays, which include all public holidays along with the 1916 Commemoration day, 11 July and 15 August. The Minister is also authorised to grant such other days, usually in the form of additional days leave at Easter and Christmas, such as Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, to the Defence Forces to reflect the leave allowable to other public servants who work on a five-day a week basis.

A request to increase the number of carryover days has been considered. The current carryover has been found to be proportionate and reasonable. I have been advised by Department of Defence officials that three plenary summonses have been taken by members of the Defence Forces in relation to the transposition of the working time directive and the carryover of annual leave. Given that these matters are before the courts it would be inappropriate to comment further on the legal proceedings which have been commenced in this matter.

The conciliation and arbitration scheme for members of the Permanent Defence Force, PDF, provides a formal mechanism for the PDF representative associations, RACO and PDFORRA, to engage with the official side. The purpose of the scheme is to provide a means for the determination of claims and proposals from the associations relating to remuneration and conditions of service. It is open to the representative associations to submit claims to the official side in relation to matters falling within the conciliation and arbitration scheme. Generally, claims relate to pay and conditions, award of allowances etc. When submitted, these claims are generally the subject of negotiations and where agreement is not reached it is open to both sides to seek the assistance of an adjudicator to settle the matter.

The Minister has received representations from PDFORRA seeking to have access to the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court made available to it in the event of any future legislative changes being made to provide An Garda Síochána with access to same. The proposals in relation to An Garda Síochána being granted such access will require detailed legislative change and the Department of Justice and Equality has established a working group to examine in detail what future legislative changes are required. While present arrangements have worked well, it is intended to review the conciliation and arbitration scheme and the Minister has agreed that this should happen towards the end of this year. This review will be informed by any future arrangements to be made for An Garda Síochána.

Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail)
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I understand that this is not the brief of the Minister of State but thank him for his contribution. I am sure he appreciates that the matter needs to be addressed and I would welcome any measures on the part of the Minister for Defence to move it forward for the benefit of all.