Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Report of the Public Service Pay Commission (PSPC) on Recruitment and Retention in the Defence Forces was published on the 4th of July 2019. The Report was accepted in full by the Government at that time and, to facilitate implementation, an extensive High Level Plan titled ""Strengthening our Defence Forces – Phase One” was also agreed and published on the same date.

The High Level Plan provides for actions or projects to be undertaken to deliver on the PSPC recommendations. It also proposes a timeframe for actions or projects to commence and identifies the lead actor to implement the action or project. The timeframe for commencement of actions is split into four distinct timelines i.e. immediate, short-term, medium-term and long-term. The Plan defines long-term as "action to commence within 6-12 months of approval of this Plan".  As such, it should be noted that there is no deadline of 4 July 2020 for the complete implementation of the long-terms projects set out in the Plan. 

The table below outlines the status of the projects due for long-term implementation as outlined in the plan and the current status of each project.

	Project	Current Status
V1	Review of Pay Structures	Some initial preliminary work has commenced within my Department.  The main body of work is to be done as part of a wider review of public sector pay arrangements.  The timeframe for this wider review not confirmed at present.
R6	Professional Military Education (PME) Strategy	First draft of the PME Strategy is nearing completion. It is anticipated that the strategy will be finalised during Q3 2020.
R7	Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy	First draft of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy is under consideration by the DF Mental  Health and Wellbeing Working Group (DFMHWWG). This project is on target for completion in Q3 2020.
R8	Non-Pay Retention Measures in the PDF	Phase 1 report (Review of Current Retention Measures) and Phase 2 report (Review of Retention Measures in other PDFs) are completed.  Phase 3 Report (Proposed Further Non-pay Retention Measures PDF) was nearing completion in early March, however, the project team was temporarily reassigned to Covid-19 work. Work has now recommenced and the Phase 3 Report was reviewed in light of Covid-19.  The draft report is now with project sponsors for consideration.
A2	Workforce Planning	Project A2 is being progressed with the assistance of an independent HR specialist. The timeframe set out for the development of an integrated workforce plan was overly ambitious when requirements were analysed in more detail, particularly given the range of specialisms in the Defence Forces and recruitment and training processes.  In this context, there is significant overlap and interdependencies with other projects. When completed, this important project will better inform recruitment and retention and broader HR policy.

The Covid-19 emergency has impacted project timeframes for some projects included in the "Strengthening our Defence Forces - Phase One" plan.  For some projects resources were necessarily reassigned to matters relating to the COVID-19 response and other essential work took priority.  At this point, work on all of the outstanding projects either remains ongoing or has recently re-started and projects are being progressed as quickly as is possible in the circumstances.