An Cosantóir

28 Joining the Defence Forces is a form of patriotism and would make a great career for young people, the Minister for Defence, Mr Simon Coveney, said in a lengthy Podcast interview with Capt Cian Clancy. He spoke too of the public pride in the Defence Forces helping out during the COVID emergency. The Minister dealt at length with the work of the Commission on the Future of the Defence Forces and spoke about the need for better equipment, a bigger role for reservists and a focus on recruitment and retention. Mr Coveney revealed that future overseas missions could involve more complex situations, particularly in Africa, where peace-enforcement and conflict resolution could play a bigger part than currently. In the interview, he emphasised that the Commission on the Future of the Defence Forces was not a "paper exercise" adding: "I feel very strongly that there is a need in some ways for a recalibration and a new beginning for defence in terms of the debate around policy and the rebuilding of morale within the Defence Forces. I don't want to say the Commission will do all that on its own, but I think it can make a significant contribution to it." Pointing to the experience of the Commission members, the Minister said: "The challenge is how do we harness that resource to produce a series of recommendations that I think can be exciting for the Defence Forces in terms of a pathway to the future and can deliver on some of the things that many have been frustrated by, in terms of perhaps getting more clarity on remunerations, pay and allowances, opportunities for promotions. The kind of things people don't always want to talk about publicly but obviously care about in terms of their careers and their families." However, Minister Coveney said he did not think the Commission was going to be able to provide all the answers. The Commission was mandated to look at pay structures and allowances in the Defence Forces whether they are structured and streamlined in the way they should be; whether there are certain ranks that are not getting fair treatment. "I think they will look at international best practice and make some decisions around that. Whether they are going to make dramatic decisions around pay rates, probably not." He said: "What we have committed to do on the pay side is to set up an independent body to review pay. For the first time we will have a section of the Public Service that will have its own pay review body. This isn't a review body that will look at it, produce a report and then be gone. We are talking about having a permanent review body that will produce recommendations every year." This was appropriate because people who commit to a career to the Defence Forces were quite unique in terms of public DF PODCAST: MINISTER FOR DEFENCE SIMON COVENEY TD DF PODCAST MINISTER FOR DEFENCE SIMON COVENEY TD v Minister for Defence Simon Coveny TD alongside COS Vice Admiral Mark Mellett DSM at a recruitment launch held in Custume Bks Athlone back in 2015 By Tony O'Brien Photos by DF Flickr

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