Lisa Chambers
Question:31. Deputy Lisa Chambers asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if he will provide a report on the Defence Forces climate survey; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27129/16]
View answerTuesday, 27 September 2016
Questions (31)
Oral answers (10 contributions)
I ask the Minister of State to provide a report on the Defence Forces climate survey and to make a statement on the matter.
The independent monitoring group, IMG, was established in May 2002 to oversee the implementation of recommendations arising from a report on the interpersonal relationships within the Defence Forces. The Representative Association of Commissioned Officers, RACO, and the Permanent Defence Forces Representative Association, PDFORRA, are both represented on the IMG.
The third and most recent IMG report was published in September 2014. Among its recommendations was that a climate survey be conducted within 12 months and subsequently at reasonable intervals. A similar survey was conducted in 2008. The aim of the survey, which was conducted by the University of Limerick, was to identify trends to inform best practice in human resources management and training and education within the Defence Forces. As with the 2008 survey, approximately 11% of the workforce - 1,055 personnel in this instance - was sampled.
The report was received in the Department in June. I am sure the Deputy will appreciate that, given its importance and wide ranging subject matter, it was important to have the report reviewed in detail by the Department and Defence Forces management to consider the findings and reach a deeper understanding of the report and its implications. I also wished to have an opportunity to discuss and consider the findings of the report in consultation with the Chief of Staff and Secretary General in the first instance.
It is now proper that the Defence Forces representative associations be given an opportunity to engage on the findings of the survey. With this in mind, I have arranged that the representative associations will meet personnel from the University of Limerick who conducted the survey on Thursday next, 29 September. The report will be published within a week of the meeting and I plan to meet representatives of the associations shortly thereafter. My officials are making arrangements in this regard.
My priority in the first instance is to engage with the representative associations who represent the key stakeholders in this process, namely, Defence Forces personnel. As they have yet to see the report, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on the specific detail of the survey pending the briefing scheduled for 29 September. However, I can inform the Deputy that the findings are grouped under topics such as work life balance, peer support, organisational justice within the organisation, procedural justice, organisational fairness, Defence Forces integrity and supervisory justice.
The Minister of State indicated it would not be appropriate to comment on the findings of the report because the representative associations have not had access to it. The reason they have not had access is that the Minister of State has not given them access to it. He and I had this conversation at a meeting of the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, Trade and Defence before the summer recess at which he informed me the report was on his desk and he needed time to review, analyse and digest it. I asked him to make the report available to the associations representing the soldiers who were the subject of the survey but he declined to do so at that juncture. It is September and the representative associations have not received a copy of the report. It is grossly inadequate to provide them with copies just before the meeting in Limerick as they will not have sufficient time to digest its contents and give the Minister of State their view on it. Soldiers are supposed to look to the Minister for guidance and leadership. They should be allowed an opportunity to analyse and digest the report in advance of the briefing in Limerick. The Minister of State should be willing to take on board their suggestions. Why has he failed to publish the report and give the representative associations a copy of it given that it has been on his desk since June?
The report has not been on my desk since June. I did not receive a copy until mid to late July. On my appointment, I met representatives of PDFORRA and RACO who asked me to provide them with a copy prior to publication. I indicated I would do so and I will give them a copy of the report tomorrow prior to the presentation on Thursday in the University of Limerick. I will publish the report in the days after Thursday's meeting and meet representatives of PDFORRA and RACO shortly thereafter. I also assured both organisations that I will take their views on board.
Deputy Chambers is correct that the most important people in the Defence Forces are the soldiers on the ground. I fully respect them and every time I attend a public forum with members of the Defence Forces, they are the first people I recognise. The members on the ground, both enlisted personnel and officers, are the glue that holds the Defence Forces together. We must appreciate their commitment to the organisation and I will do all in my power to ensure they are happy in the Defence Forces. However, I do not have at my disposal a bottomless pit of money to throw at this issue, which is about more than money.
Nobody mentioned money in this conversation. The Minister described members of the Defence Forces as the most important part of the conversation. He has had since mid-July to analyse and digest the report, yet he is giving RACO one day to do likewise. Is this fair? Is RACO, the representative body of the soldiers who are the subject of the climate survey, being afforded an adequate period to do so considering the time the Minister has had to consider the report?
The general secretary of RACO stated that management had yet to engage with his organisation on the findings of the survey. In his words, it "does little to give confidence to members that senior management are actually interested in addressing genuine service concerns of personnel". I agree with him. The Minister's actions to date have not given any confidence to the representative organisations that he is interested in taking their views on board considering that he will give them a mere 24 hours to analyse the report before the meeting in Limerick. This is highly inadequate given the time the Minister has taken to consider it.
I tried to publish the report at the end of July but unfortunately the staff of the University of Limerick who carried out the review were not available at the time. I wanted those who were at the coalface and carried out the review to be present. I did not want other staff from the university to join me in giving the presentation to RACO and PDFORRA. I wanted those who produced the document to be present at the launch. Unfortunately, I was not available for most of August and I indicated the report would be published some time in September. My diary precluded publication in early September. For this reason, I will meet representatives of PDFORRA and RACO who will be provided with a copy of the climate survey prior to the presentation on Thursday at the University of Limerick. One or two days in the-----
It matters.
It does not matter.
The representative organisations say it matters.
The most important issue will be to address the detail of the document and make the changes it recommends. It will not make much of a difference if the document is provided 24 or 48 hours in advance. I will meet representatives of PDFORRA and RACO after the document is published and we will go through it in detail. I met both representative organisations in late June or early July and they were surprised to have a Minister seeking a meeting with them rather than vice versa.