Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 19 Nov 1997

Vol. 483 No. 1

Adjournment Debate. - Air Corps Retention Gratuity.

Ms Fitzgerald

I thank the Minister for coming to respond to this important matter.

The Irish Air Corps is at a critical crossroads in attempting to service and develop the range of vital functions which Ireland as a marine nation and developing economy is coming to depend upon more and more. As we stand at this crossroads, where the options are to develop the Air Corps or subcontract its services, the Minister is engaging in a botched attempt to deal with the very real problems involved in maintaining staff morale and staff pay by trying to introduce an incentive scheme targeted at 24 of the flying officers in the Air Corps. Instead of approaching this issue in an all embracing manner with a plan that would underscore confidence in the ability of the Air Corps to develop these services, the Minister has instead whipped up a gale force wind and caused serious disquiet with a scheme which will do little or nothing to maintain and develop this service for the future. It leads me to question this Government's commitment to the long-term future of this service.

Both the offer and the manner of introduction of a so-called retention gratuity to Air Corps pilots by the Minister has, as I predicted on two previous occasions during Question Time, been met with resistance and anger by those to whom the offer was made last week. This offer is seen as divisive and morale lowering, nor is it seen that it will achieve its goal. There are serious questions to answer about the lack of negotiation with representative organisations in relation to this offer which raises serious questions for the Defence Forces as a whole about the impact of this type of incentive offer within the forces generally. Where does the scheme of things begin and end? In five years what decision will be taken in relation to remuneration of this specially selected group? What is the impact of a member of the team being paid more than the leader of the team? Will those who refuse this offer be allowed to leave if they wish to do so? I know that all 24 pilots, to whom the offer was made, have asked the Department to continue discussions with the pilots' representative organisations and to change the closing date. If we are serious about continuing the key role of the Air Corps and I, for one, am, and if we want to enable it to carry out a variety and developing range of functions, then a whole series of actions must be undertaken by the Minister. If this Government is happy to push for a contracted out marine search and rescue service and air Garda pursuit service, for example, then we are already being driven down that road by the Minister. If, on the other hand, we want an Air Corps capable of meeting current and emerging needs with high staff morale, a career structure for all, proper management and a training cycle that ensures we have enough pilots but is not unduly punitive to pilots in terms of years of service, then a comprehensive response is needed that involves much more than a retention gratuity of this type.

People join the Defence Forces for a variety of reasons. They join to be part of a service to this country, to have a worthwhile career and to be part of a well paid team.

I want to highlight some of the problems which have been experienced in relation to this offer. A press release was issued without any discussion with the Air Corps. The working group seems to have fallen apart. There are a series of unanswered questions which were put by the representative organisation as far back as 7 August 1997. At the Air Corps RACO AGM on 23 October a motion was passed rejecting this scheme, and yet the offer was still made on 5 November 1997 to pilots of captain and commandant rank with a closing date of 16 November 1997. This offer excluded a number of people who one would have expected to have been included.

I call on the Minister to develop a long-term plan to rectify the situation. This would include re-examining the number of trainee pilots taken annually, looking at contract and pension conditions, personnel management in the Air Corps and a number of other areas which need examination, including the purchase of equipment for the Air Corps and improved working conditions. Some 60 pilots and air crew are currently working in appalling crowded prefab accommodations, described many years ago as "temporary".

I am pleased the Minister visited Baldonnel today and I hope it is an indication of his commitment to the service there. A serious situation has arisen in the Air Corps which requires an indepth examination of the issues which I have outlined. The attempted solution is far from satisfactory.

Minister for Defence (Mr. M. Smith)

I thank the Fine Gael spokesperson on Defence, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, for raising this matter. I am overwhelmed by the confidence that she places in me to create all these problems in the four weeks I have been in office.

Ms Fitzgerald

I am saying he must address them, not that he created them.

Mr. M. Smith

This presents an opportunity for me to clarify the position in relation to the service commitment scheme for Air Corps pilots. Far from whipping up a gale force wind, I am a calming, reassuring type of person and I will take the necessary steps to solve this matter.

There is no policy of blanket retention and no Air Corps pilot has been refused permission to retire. Because of the high number of Air Corps pilots who have applied for permission to retire recently it has not been possible to grant them the retirement date which they sought. Every effort is being made to facilitate personnel taking the operational requirements of the Air Corps into account.

Because of the current upturn in the civil aviation industry and the resulting attractive financial packages on offer from civilian airline operators, the number of Air Corps pilots seeking to retire has risen sharply. The Air Corps could not sustain full operational capacity if the loss of experienced personnel were to continue at the 1997 level.

Rather than imposing compulsory retention on such personnel, which was the general position up to 1993, it is proposed that the service commitment scheme will be offered instead. Such financial incentives are not uncommon in Defence Forces in other countries where similar difficulties exist in retaining qualified personnel. To put it into context, we are not unique or alone in relation to experiencing a difficulty in retaining military pilots during a commercial aviation boom.

The scheme will apply to experienced personnel who are rated on and flying the Gulfstream IV, Beechcraft, CASA, Dauphin, Squirrel and Defender aircraft which are the principal operational aircraft of the Air Corps. The number of officers engaged on flying duties or direct management of these aircraft represents about one-third of all flying officers in the Air Corps.

The scheme is being introduced with a view to retaining senior pilots who have received extensive training at public expense and who occupy key appointments in areas such as search and rescue, maritime surveillance, Garda air support and ministerial air transport and, consequently, are very attractive to commercial operators who, because of the upturn in the airline industry, experience difficulties in recruiting experienced pilots. In fact the situation has been reached where civilian operators are in competition with one another to recruit well trained experienced pilots, such as those in the Air Corps. The scheme is designed to strike a balance between the demand of the commercial environment and the need to exercise responsibility in relation to public service expenditure.

A payment of £10,000 per annum will be payable to those officers who undertake to remain in service for a further three, four or five year period. In addition, personnel who commit to serve for four years will receive a terminal bonus of £2,000 and those who opt for a five year term will receive a terminal bonus of £5,000.

Officials of my Department have met the Representative Association for Commissioned Officers in relation to this scheme on a number of occasions, most recently this morning. The association has put forward some proposals in relation to the scheme and I am pleased that I have been able to take some of these on board.

I am looking forward to completing the negotiations in the context of this measure. It is not possible to extend the commitment in this area across the board but we are doing everything possible to find a balance which will retain pilots who are needed for operations and, at the same time, not expose the public purse to undue demands.

The Dáil adjourned at 9.30 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 20 November 1997.