Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 June 2019
52. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the additional cost of restoring fixed period promotion in the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25951/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraFixed Period Promotion in the Permanent Defence Force was previously part of the terms and conditions of Special Service Officers.
The Defence Sector Action Plan of the Public Service Agreement 2010-2014, (the Croke Park Agreement), contained a commitment to review promotion procedures to ensure merit based competitive promotion policies are the norm. The policy of fixed period promotions was at variance with a competitive merit based promotion system. Following discussions under the Conciliation and Arbitration (C&A) Scheme for members of the Permanent Defence Force, in September 2015, the policy was discontinued and new arrangements put in place .
There are no plans to restore the policy of fixed period promotions for Special Service Officers in the Defence Forces, outside of the arrangements agreed through the C&A scheme and in this regard a costing exercise has not been conducted.
