Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 May 2020
5. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the way in which he plans to reverse the retention issues in the Defence Forces and the issue of skilled and experienced officers leaving the Army; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4077/20]
View answerJoint civil-military work on implementing the recommendations included in the Report of the Public Service Pay Commission (PSPC) on Recruitment and Retention in the Defence Forces has been ongoing since last July. Temporary re-assignments of resources to meet the challenges of the Covid response has impacted on aspects of this work.
The PSPC report contains a broad range of recommendations which provided immediate benefits to members of the Permanent Defence Force (PDF) totalling some €10m, as well as initiatives that will lead to further improvements.
Immediate benefits included a 10% increase in military service allowance; the restoration to pre-Haddington Road levels of certain specific Defence Forces allowances; the restoration of premium rates for certain weekend duties and the restoration of a service commitment scheme for Air Corps pilots.
The Report provides for an examination of pay structures in the PDF and the identification of other retention measures, which are due to be progressed within the framework of the Public Service Stability Agreement and future public sector pay negotiations. The Report also contains a range of other recommendations including a review of recruitment methods, enhanced workforce planning, enhanced professional military education, bespoke leadership training, development of a mental health and wellbeing strategy, a review of barriers to extended participation in the PDF, the development of further non-pay retention measures and consideration of the provision of additional specialist posts in certain areas.
The scheme which I announced on 1 April last, for the re-enlistment of former personnel with the relevant skills and experience represents one of the recent actions being pursued to address the skill shortages in the PDF. It is a medium to long term initiative which pre-dates the COVID crisis, but will support the Defence Forces in responding to, and sustaining their response to, the current COVID-19 crisis and beyond.
The scheme allows for initial re-enlistment for a minimum of six months and up to 3 years and I'm pleased to report that there has been a very positive initial response to the scheme for re-enlistment with over 500 expressions of interest. The focus of the scheme is on those former members of the Permanent Defence Force (PDF) with the skills and expertise to fill specialist vacancies that currently exist in the PDF. These shortages of personnel include a number of specialised posts such as technicians, fitters, chefs, communications and IT specialist, naval and avionics experts.
Separately, I introduced a scheme for re-commissioning former Officers last October. This scheme facilitates the re-entry of former officers to the Permanent Defence Force and has seen 5 former pilots return to serve in the Air Corps to date. There is also scope to recommission officers in other specialist streams across the Defence Forces and I understand a number of expressions of interest in the scheme have been received recently.
The PDF continues to offer excellent career opportunities for serving personnel, new entrants and those wishing to re-enter.
