Ex-Army officer calls for special commission to examine Defence Forces issues
A special commission should be set up to examine all aspects of the Defence Forces and a senior minister appointed to run the Department of Defence.
These are a further two of the recommendations a former senior army officer has made in advance of the setting up of a new government, which he hopes will be taken on board in an effort to reverse the startling numbers of personnel leaving the country's military.
Former Provost Marshal and Director of Military Police, Colonel Dorcha Lee, said the new government needs to set up the commission to examine the Defence Budget, future defence cooperation in the European Union and the need for viable conventional forces which would act as a deterrent to any aggressor against the State, be they internal or external.
“Such a commission would complement rather than replace the White Paper on Defence now halfway through its 10-year term,” he said.
Mr Lee said the crisis facing the Defence Forces must also be addressed by having the Department of Defence overseen by a full, senior cabinet minister: “Defence should be one of the senior fifteen, where it has been in most governments since independence. Of necessity, the Minister for Defence will have to have an additional portfolio, but it should be of lesser ranking, possibly marine."
He proposed that the man best equipped to do the job is newly-elected TD, Dr Cathal Berry, a former second-in-command of the elite Army Ranger Wing (ARW).
Mr Lee said core pay and conditions also need to be addressed to reverse the exodus of key personnel from the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps.
He said the paltry rise in remuneration recommended by the Public Service Pay Commission (PSPC), and approved by the outgoing government, is not going to help the issue: the PSPC recommended a taxable €3 per day increase in remuneration.
Meanwhile, RACO which represents the country's officers, today sent a submission to all parties in the Oireachtas on what he feels needs to be done to strengthen the Defence Forces.
RACO general secretary, Commandant Conor King, said they particularly want to focus on the recruitment and retention crisis.
He pointed out that last year a record 870 left the Defence Forces and only 605 joined: “This is due to widely acknowledged poor conditions of service and low rates of pay."
