85. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Defence her views on the matter of entry-level cadet pay; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33405/26]

Sentiment score: 0.02

The Minister has given indications in the past and she has talked about addressing this issue but it has been six months since she took office and ultimately nothing has changed. Cadets are still paid well below the minimum wage. That is damaging to recruitment and retention. Their pay is the lowest in the Defence Forces at €503 per week. That compares with €550 for a recruit. Considering that is weekly pay, there is a considerable distance between the two. Recruit pay rises to €627, which is considerably above that €503. They remain on this pay for the entirety of their first year, earning 40.7% less than enlisted counterparts. This has a knock-on impact on pension contributions so it has a whole-career impact. This is undermining recruitment and retention. These are the future leaders of the Defence Forces. It is crucially important they are supported. I understand RACO has said it has been left with little alternative but to recommend that cadets enlist as a recruit in the Defence Forces before entering a cadetship, which unnecessarily lengthens the progress of their career.

Sentiment score: 0.01

I would love to hear about local bargaining. Local bargaining seems to be the solution to cadet pay, the service commitment scheme and to specialist staff. However many per cent it is, the scope clearly does not exist to expect it to be like the miracle of loaves and fishes and solve all the problems. There is scope to do a bit with local bargaining but ultimately the Department needs to recognise that these are strategic considerations in the development capability and the personnel numbers of the Defence Forces. This is intolerable. Deputy Ó Fearghaíl is entirely correct. If people are coming from a different sector to become cadets, it will not be sustainable for them to keep up mortgage payments on that kind of pay. I will give a brief mention to something else in another training sphere, namely Air Corps apprentices. One category of them, not the most recent, is actually on lower pay than the class coming just behind them because of the recategorisation. It is a small category. Some sort of ex gratia scheme or approach should be made to support them because it is not fair to have one class on a lower scale even though it is a year advanced than the next category.

Sentiment score: 0.16