asked the Minister for Defence if his attention has been drawn to the number of NCO's and men—1,019 out of a total of 2,232 in 1978 and 861 in 1979—who did not extend their service when their initial engagements expired; if any survey has been carried out to ascertain the reasons therefor and the proposals, if any, to improve the conditions of service to reverse this trend.

A study in this matter was carried out last year and certain proposals to improve the pay, allowances and general conditions of service have been implemented. I hope these measures will result in an improvement in the position which is being kept under constant review.

Is the Minister concerned at what appears to be a major drain of experienced personnel from the Defence Forces?

Of course I am concerned. This review was carried out to see what we could do to try to reduce the drain of trained personnel from the Defence Forces.

Would the Minister be prepared to take whatever steps are necessary, such as improving conditions of service, dealing with problems of leave and so on, to encourage experienced men to remain in the service when their engagements have terminated?

We have improved conditions in relatively recent times and I hope this will have the effect the Deputy and I would like to see.

Unfortunately the drain is continuing.

As investigations were carried out last year, can the Minister tell us the reasons why people are leaving the service?

Soldiers looking for their discharge from the service are influenced by civilian employment opportunities. Some do not find Army life interesting. Some leave for personal reasons, and some do not like Army duties.

Because of the high number of people involved, has the Minister examined the duties assigned to our Army personnel? Is that a contributory reason for trained personnel leaving?

I mentioned that as one of the factors.

Is the Minister taking steps to rectify the position?

We are doing what we can.

What action does the Minister propose to take and when?