Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 November 2023
75. Deputy Gino Kenny asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence his views on the findings concerning recruitment and retention in the Irish Defence Forces in a survey compiled by an organisation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50748/23]
View answerI am aware that the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (RACO)presented their Member Engagement Survey 2023 at their Annual Delegates Conference last week and shared it with my Department in the last few days. My officials have requested a briefing on the findings therein.
I have previously acknowledged recruitment and retention challenges in the Defence Forces and the initiatives underway to counter these challenges. These include ongoing general service and direct entry recruitment, the re-entry schemes, the 'Be More' recruitment campaign, significant progress on basic pay, and the rollout of private medical care to all ranks.
I also recently announced the new Naval Service Patrol Duty Allowance to be introduced from 1 January 2024. This allowance will consolidate the current Patrol Duty Allowance and Sea Going Service Commitment scheme and could be worth in excess €20,000 per annum to personnel at sea. This was announced and welcomed at last week's RACO conference. The much improved PDA allowance is in addition to the private medical scheme announced recently as well as other initiatives for the Medical Officers .All of these improvements are to assist with recruitment and retention of the Defence Forces.
In other actions, a Joint Induction Training Centre has been established in Gormanston, with a view to increasing the throughput of recruits, the maximum age of entry has been increased to 29 years for General Service recruits, Cadets, apprentices, and certain specialists, and fitness test scoring has been amended to maximise induction levels.
External HR expertise has also been engaged to validate Defence Forces recruitment efforts and a marine specialist recruitment body has been contracted to target individuals with the skills and expertise required by the Naval Service.
My immediate focus remains on stabilising the numbers of personnel, and to facilitate capacity for further increases. This
will enable us to align ultimately with the level of ambition recommended in the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces, and agreed by Government.
