Defence Forces: Motion
Seanad Éireann — 2026-01-21
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Joe O'Reilly (FG), Labour Panel

I welcome the Minister of State with responsibility for the marine, Deputy Dooley. It is good to have him here for this important debate. It was also good to have the Minister, Deputy McEntee, here earlier. She is clearly very hands on and proactive in her approach. Her visibility as Minister for Defence should prove an incentive to young women and women in general to join the Defence Forces. That would be a major development. It could, among other things, be a good byproduct of her Ministry.
I support the motion, which was very competently proposed by Senators Wilson and Gallagher on behalf of the Fianna Fáil group. I agree with the broad thrust of it.
I will be alluding more to this later, but I take this opportunity congratulate a very good friend of mine Commandant Mark Kiernan of the Reserve Defence Force. He is officer in command of C Company, 27th Infantry Division. It is a huge personal achievement for him and a recognition of his leadership skills, etc., but it is also important for the Reserve in our region and the region Senator Wilson and I, and, of course, Senator Tully, serve. As a consequence of Commandant Kiernan's leadership, there will be even more recruitment in that district to the Reserve Defence Force.
In the context of the motion, recruitment is currently positive due to an increase in pay and allowances, as well as improvements in respect of medical insurance. That is to be welcomed. As the motion states, part of the reason for that is pay for recruits on completion of training being €41,880 in year one. There has been a 51% recruitment increase since 2019. The pay of cadets on commissioning is now €45,795. The pay and conditions are a very important element in the more favourable recruitment. The general status of and respect for our armed forces is a factor too. They should be respected as they have served us well through the years at home and abroad. Respect for the Defence Forces and their position in the public consciousness is improving, which is also important. I am happy that these developments have happened.
The motion sees a need for further development. We need to give extra pay and improved conditions to non-commissioned officers and senior non-commissioned officers to achieve retention. A method of doing that could be a signing-on bonus or long service increments, which I understand is a subject of discussion at the moment. I have the privilege, with others in the House - notably Senator Craughwell - of representing the Defence Forces in the Seanad by being their nominee and from talking to them I understand there is tentative progress in this area, but we need to see it happen in a big way. We need to continue to improve pay and conditions. As was alluded by previous speakers, living conditions are important.
The motion establishes that we need to evaluate the Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme and Other Provisions) Act 2012 with regard to impact on retention of the Defence Forces. There is a disparity in pension entitlements for personnel who enlisted post 1994 and pre-2024. That disparity needs addressing and I hope that can be the case.
We need to get the commencement of adjustments to pay and allowances as agreed under the local bargaining arrangement of the Public Service Agreement 2024-2026. We need that enacted and happening. This will all continue to enhance the continued recruitment opportunities.
As I said at the outset, the current recruitment is positive and is due to increases in pay and allowances conditions and medical cover but we need to give extra pay to NCOs and senior NCOs for retention purposes. This could be done by bonuses and long increments. That will happen. We also need to look closer at medical derogations to help keep members and to apply a bit more common sense in that area.
Before I leave, and I did mention the success of our neighbour and friend, Commandant Kiernan, within the Reserve Defence Force but, in conclusion, the Government needs to focus more on the Reserve Defence Force and to invest more in it. Recruitment is improving but more needs to be done there. It is so important for civic spirit and a pathway into the Permanent Defence Force for its members should be more readily available.
It is a great motion and an important discussion, one that we need to keep going. Tragically, it becomes all the more important in the geopolitical context.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-01-21/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:31+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-21