Defence Forces
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-17
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Helen McEntee (FG), Meath East

We both fully agree that we can talk about expansion, growth and enhancing our capabilities. If we do not invest in the men and women of Óglaigh na hÉireann in the context of supporting and retaining them and recruiting further members, however, we are not going to be able to deliver on the ambitious programme that we have and that we all want to work towards. It is extremely important to understand what the issues are. As I said, I had really good engagement with RACO and PDFORRA in the past two weeks. My ambition is to work with them where issues that specifically relate to the men and women they represent are identified.
A really important piece of work that has been done and that will be hugely helpful is the Value Our People survey. This is the largest survey ever undertaken in respect of Defence Forces personnel. This survey asked questions about what it is they feel supported by, what the challenges are, what the issues are and what are the main things they would like to see changed. It was not just focused on cultural change; it also focused on pay and conditions and other matters. This is the first in a series of surveys. It is very important that as we have this essential information, we take it and feed it into the work that we do and that I, as Minister, take on board some of the recommendations. We can learn from each survey. We can be more specific in our questioning and dig down into things in more detail. Again, a lot of work is happening there. It is about how we support the men and women of Óglaigh na hÉireann in the best way possible.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:38+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-17