Vol. 398 No. 4
11 Tomás Mac Giolla asked the Minister for Defence if he will reduce the compulsory service period for apprentice members of the Defence Forces from nine to seven years overall, to help deal with the pressures on apprentices to leave the service before the end of their service period through the buy-out device; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The first four years of an apprentice's engagement in the Permanent Defence Force are spent in training for his trade. Because of the considerable investment involved in the training of apprentices it is necessary to require those who qualify as technicians to serve in the Permanent Defence Force for a reasonable period on completion of training. An overall engagement of nine years in the Permanent Defence Force is the minimum necessary for this purpose.
What are the factors that led the Minister to the conclusion that the reasonable period must of necessity be five years? Will he agree that a reduction from nine years to seven might have an impact on stemming the flow of apprentices from the Defence Forces? Will the Minister agree that one is asking tradespeople to stay on to an age when they would, inevitably, be considering marriage, mortgages, families and settling down? If they were given the choice of opting out at 25 years of age as opposed to — on average — 27 years of age will the Minister agree that it could be a very useful way of reducing the flow of apprentices from the Defence Forces? On what basis——
This is a very long question.
The obvious factor is that we are getting value from the excellent training by having them there for a longer period. Indeed, it is a question of value for the taxpayer.
Will the Minister agree that he is not getting value at present because so many tradespeople are buying their way out of the Army before they come to the end of their time?
I see the Deputy's point and I will have it examined. However, the period of nine years' service seems to be fair value for four years' training. I might add that this training is highly valued.
I thank the Minister for agreeing to look at the matter. Having reviewed it, will he report back to the Dáil or to the Deputies involved?
I will convey the information to Deputy Mac Giolla.
