Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 3 October 2018
44. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the reason for the delay in submitting the joint submission from the military authorities and his Department to the Public Service Pay Commission in respect of Defence Forces pay and allowances. [40101/18]
View answerI welcome the statement from the Minister of State about the departmental cock-up which has left 119 Defence Forces personnel stranded in Syria with families awaiting them. Personnel heading out to Syria at least have a new date. What are the reasons for the delay in submitting the joint submission from the Department and the military authorities to the Public Service Pay Commission? The submission could have helped - I hope it will help - to address some of the retention and recruitment challenges facing the Defence Forces.
The Public Service Pay Commission was established to provide objective advice to Government on public service remuneration policy. In 2017, under my direction, the Department of Defence brought issues of recruitment and retention in the Defence Forces to the attention of the commission. The commission produced its initial report in May 2017 and highlighted recruitment and retention issues, including in the health and defence sectors, that required further analysis. The Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020 provides for the Public Service Pay Commission to undertake this further analysis. In this context, the commission has initially focused on the health sector and recently produced its second report focusing on certain health grades.
Earlier in the year, the commission sought specific data from the Department of Defence. A civil-military team was tasked with sourcing these data and this work been ongoing. The material requested included detailed data and specific trends. These data were not readily to hand and every effort has been made to provide this material as speedily and comprehensively as possible. An initial tranche of material was forwarded to the commission through the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in early April. This focused on pilots and air traffic controllers. Further material was sent in early September and the remaining outstanding data will be forwarded this week following their recent receipt from the military authorities.
The Public Service Pay Commission's work on the defence sector is under way. As the commission’s work is ongoing, I will not make any comment or engage in speculation on possible findings. I look forward to reviewing the findings of the commission in due course.
The Minister of State said earlier that the submission was made in September. Will he confirm the date in September on which the Public Service Pay Commission received or was sent the submission? The commission is due to report in autumn. As this is the last month of autumn, meeting that deadline will be an onerous task. Can the Minister of State confirm that the report from the Public Service Pay Commission will not be delayed or does he expect it to be delayed as a result of the late receipt by the commission of the joint submission from the Defence Forces authorities and the Department? We have often been told we should await the outcome of the Public Service Pay Commission's deliberations before we consider issues of pay and allowances, which will help to deal with the chaos in the Defence Forces and the failure to retain highly skilled personnel who are leaving in droves each year. My question is not on the content of the commission's report.
Why was there a delay? It has been received but given how late the submission was received, will the Public Service Pay Commission seek additional time to tackle some of the matters or comment on the submission received? PDFORRA and RACO, two of the representative organisations, received notification in February that they had six weeks in which to prepare their submissions. They did so but have had to wait until last month before the State moved at all.
The joint submission from the Department of Defence and military management was submitted on 10 September to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. This was a very comprehensive evidence-based submission and it was what the pay commission sought. The submission was supported by statistics and I know the commission is engaging with members of the Defence Forces now, as it has done for the past while.
Both representative associations were asked to send a submission, but this was a separate joint submission from both the Department and military management. A large amount of data was required, which had to be comprehensive and backed up with statistics and specific arguments, detailing the position of recruitment and retention. The Deputy mentioned specific posts. I assure him every effort has been made to give as much evidence-based data as possible from both the Department and military management.
The Minister of State has clearly had no correspondence from the commission indicating a delay. I accept the amount of data required but most of that had been well signalled in advance. We all knew last year or the year before what type of data would be required to make a case to deal with the pay rates in the Defence Forces and the need to tackle reinstatement of allowances.
Is there any conflict between the military authorities and the Department on the content of the submission? There seems to be at least some commentary out there that those within the military authorities, including the Chief of Staff, were disgruntled with the delay in preparing the joint submission and the lack of urgency from the Department and the Minister of State. There was frustration over not seeing anything done since they fulfilled their portion of the submission.
I instructed my Department that I did not want a wishy-washy submission from the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces. I wanted a comprehensive evidence-based submission. It runs to well over 100 pages, with graphs of trends and everything like that. The Deputy asked when I expect the pay commission to report. In April this year a submission was sent regarding pilot retention, and we know it is a major issue because pilots are sought after in the private sector. We had been bleeding pilots, so to speak, over the past while as they went to the private sector. I wanted to ensure this matter would be prioritised. The pilot submission was made in early April and I expect we will shortly have a report on that. I am not sure when we can expect a report from the pay commission arising from the submission we made in September. At this time the commission is actively engaging with members of the military. They are having face-to-face discussions about the matters in the submission. I would like to get the commission's report as soon as possible but I am allowing it time and space to do its work.
