Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 12 Dec 2002

Vol. 559 No. 3

Written Answers. - Defence Forces Commissions.

Brian O'Shea

Ceist:

16 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Defence the number of NCOs who have been commissioned as officers in the Army, air corps and Naval Service in each of the past five years; the steps being taken to encourage greater commissioning from the ranks, especially having regard to the Feely report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26071/02]

David Stanton

Ceist:

33 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Defence his policy regarding commissioning from the ranks; his further plans in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25967/02]

Minister for Defence (Mr. M. Smith)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 and 33 together.

A total of 31 non-commissioned officers have been commissioned as officers in the Army, air corps and Naval Service in the past five years. The numbers commissioned in each year are detailed in the tabular statement which I propose to circulate with the Official Report.

Potential officers courses (POC) are held for non-commissioned personnel from time to time within the Defence Forces. Personnel who successfully complete such courses are commissioned as officers in the Permanent Defence Force. Participants on such courses are selected on a competitive basis. In addition, from time to time non-commissioned personnel who hold suitable qualifications are commissioned to fill specialist appointments where vacancies arise. Eligible non-commissioned personnel may also apply for the annual cadetship competitions. The requirement for potential officer courses and commissioning from the ranks (CFR) competitions is reviewed from time to time. This is one of the specific issues which is to be addressed in the context of the integrated personnel management system (IPMS) for the Defence Forces. The IPMS is one of the major policy initiatives provided for in the White Paper on Defence. Provision for the introduction of regular schemes to commission enlisted personnel as officers in the Army, air corps and Naval Service will be one of the core issues to be dealt with by the military authorities in drafting the IPMS. A preliminary draft plan of the IPMS has been considered by the Department's strategic management committee and is now being further refined by the military authorities.

Draft conditions governing the appointment of enlisted personnel of the Permanent Defence Force to be officers of the Naval Service are under discussion with the representative associations. As the discussions with the representative associations are ongoing, it would not be appropriate to comment on any of the specifics of the proposed draft conditions. However, it is the intention that a potential officers course will be run as soon as these discussions are completed.

Year	Number Appointed	Category
1997	1	Army School of Music
1998	2	Air Traffic Control
1999	2	Electrical Engineer Officers, Naval Service
2000	18	3 Information Technology area and 15 Line Officers (12 Army and 3 Air Corps)
2001	8	8 Watchkeeping Officers, Naval Service
2002 to date	Nil