Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 244: To ask the Minister for Defence if his attention has been drawn to the fact that vacancies for aeronautical engineers within the Air Corps are open only to officers and that members of the Defence Forces including Air Corps aircraft inspector sergeants and those with appropriate higher and MA degrees are excluded from applying; his views on whether this is in conflict with his stated declaration of commissioning suitable qualified non-commissioned personnel in all areas of the Defences Forces; if he will change this practice in order to recruit for such vacancies from qualified enlisted personnel in the first instance; when he plans to do this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22017/07]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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The position is that enlisted personnel of the Defence Forces who hold the appropriate qualifications are eligible to apply for appointment as Aeronautical Engineer Officers through open competition.

The military authorities have advised me that there are three vacancies for Aeronautical Engineer Officers in the Air Corps. As has been normal practice, qualified officers in the Permanent Defence Force were canvassed and two officers expressed an interest in transferring into this area. The military authorities are currently processing these applications with a view to filling one of the vacancies. A Direct Entry Competition was advertised in the national press on 8 April 2007 from which the remaining two of these vacancies will be filled. The professional qualifications outlined in the governing conditions for this competition were the same as those which applied to the last Direct Entry Competition held, in 2001, to fill vacancies for Aeronautical Officers. The competition was open to all who meet the qualifying criteria, and this included civilians and enlisted personnel of all ranks.

Seven serving enlisted personnel in the Defence Forces and thirty-seven civilians applied for the two posts on offer. Two of the enlisted personnel were successful in the competition and will be commissioned in the near future.

I have in recent times made substantial changes in recruitment policy to promote recruitment from the ranks. For the cadetship competition, which is now the primary means of commissioning from the ranks, I have increased the maximum entry age to 28 and now award bonus marks to candidates with previous experience in the Permanent Defence Force (PDF) or Reserve Defence Force (RDF).

Results for the 2006 and 2007 cadetship competitions were encouraging with a total of 23 applicants with military service in the Defence Forces being successful in the 2006 cadetship competition and a further 18 applicants with military service being successful in the 2007 cadetship competition.

In addition, in the past two years, 3 members of the Defence Forces were commissioned as officers from Direct Entry Competitions for appointments as Engineer Officers in the Corps of Engineers and Conductors in the Army School of Music.

Following consultations with the representative associations, an internal Commissioning From the Ranks competition was held in June 2007. This competition provided an opportunity for enlisted personnel who have passed the cadet entry age to compete for entry on a potential Officers Course and ultimately, a commission. The competition offered the possibility of enhancing the Officer Corps with the skills and expertise of these personnel.

A total of 24 successful applicants, selected from the ranks of Junior and Senior Non-Commissioned Officers are in training in the Cadet School in the Curragh since 30 July 2007. On successfully completing the course these enlisted personnel will be commissioned as officers of the Permanent Defence Force next summer.

The Policy on the running of similar future competitions, to provide Non-Commissioned Officers with the opportunity of obtaining commissioned rank, will be formalised under the Defence Force Modernisation Agenda. I have also asked the Chief of Staff for his views on the prospect of facilitating suitably qualified enlisted personnel to compete internally for technical/professional posts in the officer ranks.