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Defence Forces

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 March 2022

Thursday, 10 March 2022

Questions (34)

John Lahart

Question:

34. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Defence his views on and response to the belief expressed by the Commission on the Defence Forces that representative bodies should be active participants in future public service pay bargaining processes. [13221/22]

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Written answers

The Commission on the Defence Forces was established on foot of a commitment in the Programme for Government, as well as a Government decision, in December 2020.

The Commission undertook a significant body of work encompassing wide-ranging terms of reference, and I welcomed its report on 9th February last. The Report is substantial, containing a wide range of recommendations and sub-recommendations, including touching on certain issues with regard to collective bargaining.  

The report recommends significant changes to the Defence Forces and in how defence provision is managed in Ireland. Clearly these are matters that will require careful and detailed consideration, including in many aspects, inter-departmental discussion and agreement.  

The Defence Forces Representative Associations will be consulted on matters that fall within the scope of representation relating to the implementation of any approved plan. I also intend to engage with other key stakeholders and the Oireachtas - this engagement includes my Dáil statement on 16th February last.  When these deliberations are completed, I intend to revert to Government with a proposed action plan.

It is anticipated that this process will take at least four to five months, in order to bring a considered and comprehensive proposal back to Government, one that will address the fundamental recommendations that the Commission has made. 

On the specific matter of public sector pay bargaining, national negotiations, on behalf of public servants, are conducted as part of collective pay bargaining talks.  

For the Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020, the PDF representative associations were represented alongside other public sector trade unions and representative associations, at these negotiations which were held under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). The process of negotiations for the most recent pay agreement, Building Momentum – A New Public Service Agreement 2021 – 2022 was unfortunately somewhat constrained by COVID 19.

The scheme of Conciliation and Arbitration (C&A) for members of the Permanent Defence Force also provides a formal mechanism for the determination of claims and proposals from the Permanent Defence Force Representative Associations, relating to remuneration and conditions of service and having regard to the provisions of public sector pay agreements.

Officials from my Department continue to work with the Representative Associations in a positive and collaborative process within the C&A Scheme to resolve issues. There is also ongoing engagement on a regular basis between the Official side and the Representative side on a range of items which are processed through C&A.

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