Defence Forces' officers vote to accept €10m package of increased allowances
The country's military officers have warned their patience is running thin and said if any other organisation had been treated as badly as the Defence Forces they would have taken industrial action by now.
The warning came after officers voted to accept what they described as 'a take it or leave it' €10m package of increased allowances recommended by the Public Service Pay Commission (PSPC).
More than two-thirds of delegates voting on behalf of 1,000-plus officer members of RACO (Representative Association of Commissioned Officers) agreed to accept the increase in allowances and put their faith in a new body set up by the Department of the Taoiseach, which will look at ways to improve life for the military, which is suffering an unprecedented exodus of personnel due to poor pay and conditions.
The vote was taken this evening on the opening day of RACO's three-day conference in Naas, Co Kildare.
The result came after two hours of a 'behind closed doors' debate among delegates representing officers in the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps, which was described at times as being “robust” by RACO general secretary Commandant Conor King.
He said there was “a lot of frustration” among officers about the government's failure to address the exodus of highly-experienced personnel for better pay and conditions in the private sector.
The Defence Forces are the lowest paid of all public servants.
“Any other organisation treated like this would have taken industrial action,” Comdt King said.
He pointed out all ranks in the Defence Forces take an oath to the State which means they cannot strike and he said he and his members believed they are “being exploited” by the government because of this loyalty.
RACO members say the only way to stem the exodus is to increase core pay across all ranks and provide better allowances than were proposed by the PSPC.
Comdt King said the current turnover rate of nearly 10% is unsustainable.
The designated minimum strength of the Defence Forces, agreed by successive governments to maintain its operational capabilities at home and abroad, is 9,500.
However, at the end of last month it stood at 8,653 and of that figure, nearly 500 are in training.
The military in many other countries does not count trainees in their minimum strength figures.
RACO is estimating on current trends that nearly 900 personnel will leave this year, through a mixture of compulsory and voluntary retirements, which would be a record.
Tomorrow the president of RACO, Comdt Shane Keogh and RACO general secretary Comdt King will outline their concerns about the future viability of the Defence Forces to the Chief of Staff, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett, and the Minister with responsibility for Defence, Paul Kehoe.
RACO will also be calling on them to establish an independent review body, similar to ones operated by the British and Australian governments, which looks at pay and conditions in their militaries.
Comdt King said RACO had no issue with their counterparts representing enlisted personnel, PDForra, looking for affiliation to the union umbrella body ICTU.
He said he felt RACO's wish for the independent body was a better option.
