Defence Forces officers feeling 'deep disappointment and frustration' over Govt offer
RACO, the association representing Defence Forces officers, has postponed a decision on accepting increased allowances offered in the Public Service Pay Commission (PSPC) report until it hosts a series of roadshows for its members at military installations.
Its national executive met on Monday night and again today to discuss the fall-out from the report, but decided it needed to ensure all its members were fully briefed before making a decision.
A spokesman for the association said it was "already clear that there is a widespread feeling of deep disappointment and frustration among the membership with the limited set of recommendations contained within the report".
He said the national executive also discussed the Government’s high-level implementation plan on how the allowances will be paid. This was issued alongside the PSPC report and RACO will be seeking further clarifications from the DPER (Department of Public Expenditure & Reform) and the Department of Taoiseach on that.
The RACO spokesman pointed out that the restoration of allowances recommended in the PSPC report will be applied from July 4, but only if RACO formally accepts the terms of the report.
"There appears to be a mistaken belief that even if the report is rejected by the association that the positive recommendations contained within it will still be implemented. This is absolutely not the case and has been re-affirmed by the official side (Department of Defence)," the spokesman said.
He admitted that RACO members may feel that these recommendations don't go far enough, "but it is important to understand that acceptance of this report will greatly facilitate further positive engagement and progress of the reviews of ‘pay arrangements’ confirmed in the high-level implementation plan," he said.
Any new core pay increases are supposed to be hammered out prior to the next round of National Pay Talks, which are due to be completed in the autumn of 2020.
The Government has said it will look at pay increases, especially for highly-skilled jobs in the Defence Forces where there are currently significant shortages of staff, such as marine engineers, bomb disposal experts and air traffic controllers.
RACO plans to hold the roadshows at military installations in the coming weeks
