We all go to retirement presentations from time to time. They are really important because they allow us to acknowledge and recognise the contributions of particular workers to particular workplaces. What is perhaps even more important is that retirement presentations signal to the remaining workforce that their contributions are also appreciated and valued. I mention this because I will today raise the precarious employment contracts enlisted members of the Defence Forces are forced to accept, particularly those contracts for sergeants who are approaching their 50th birthday. Many people may not be aware of this but a 50-year-old sergeant must retire on his or her birthday. Under the circumstances, when you consider the retention crisis and the fact that our 50-year-old sergeants are the most experienced, respected and motivated people we have, this appears to be madness.

That is a big issue that needs be addressed. We need to focus on how to improve things from a sergeant's perspective.

I have two questions for the Taoiseach. Does he know anything about the terms and conditions upon which these new sergeants' contracts will be approved? In fairness to the Minister for Defence, he accepts that a sergeant's career should be extended to around 55 years of age. We have yet to see the terms and conditions they will be re-engaged on.

Is this about new sergeants being appointed?

That is correct. There are a lot of rumours going around and there are some proposals on the table that 50-year-old sergeants will be forced to retire and be rehired on their birthdays, with drastically reduced terms and conditions for pensions and pay. I find that unacceptable and the Taoiseach probably feels the same. I do not think anyone would try to chance that with a garda, a nurse or a teacher. Does the Taoiseach know when these terms and conditions will be available? Will he intercede with his Cabinet colleagues to ensure that military personnel who are 50 years of age will get a fair hearing when it comes to terms and conditions?

I thank the Deputy for raising this. It is an important issue given the overall situation and to the need to enhance retention and recruitment in the context of the Defence Forces. As the Deputy will know, a civil-military review of mandatory retirement ages and service limits of all ranks in the Permanent Defence Force has been conducted and the recommendations arising from the review and their impact on current pay and pensions are being considered by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. That consideration is ongoing. In December 2021, the Ministers for Defence and Public Expenditure and Reform both agreed that arrangements would be made to facilitate the extension of service limits of sergeants recruited to the Permanent Defence Force since 1994. I will not go through the rest of the note because it refers to those wonderful layers of complexity involved in resolving these issues. I could read all sorts of things into that. In short, I will talk to both Ministers. We need to get this expedited.

I have no doubt that there are some complexities because there are certain pension entitlements at the age of 50. Obviously, people going beyond that age has implications and there are relativities and all of that. I am told that the complexity surrounding any extension of service relates to the pension entitlements associated with the mandatory retirement age limits. What the Deputy is hearing may relate to that. We do not want people to be disadvantaged by staying on beyond the age of 50. The Government certainly does not want that. I want to create incentives for people to stay beyond 50. In the modern era, it makes sense. We would then be in a position to retain their experience and expertise and reduce the brain drain from the Defence Forces. I will revert to the Deputy. I will talk to the Ministers about this.

The reason I mention this is that it is the most pressing issue relating to the Defence Forces at the moment. It goes back to the comment I made about retirement functions at the start. This will only affect eight sergeants over the next 12 months.

Eight.

Yes. It is just eight troops but there are 8,000 troops watching very carefully to see how those eight people are treated. That is where the real downstream consequences are. We should be mindful that the Dublin Airport Authority tried something similar two years ago and we saw where that ended up. It was unable to fulfil its mandate and the public suffered accordingly. The take-home message is that the public service should be the employer of choice when it comes to employment rights. We should not just meet the standard; we should be the standard.

Even as he spoke, the Deputy illustrated some of the knock-on effects that can happen, so obviously the matter needs some consideration. The overall objective is to retain and extend the numbers working in the Defence Forces. We have to find a way through that and do it expeditiously. I will talk to both Ministers in respect of the issue.