Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Specific issues have been raised with my office, namely that the organisation of the Working Time Act does not apply to the armed forces. Claims have been made by Army rangers and Defence Forces chiefs that have been upheld in the courts, but have not yet been honoured by the Department of Defence. The armed forces suffered the same impositions as the rest of the public service, including pension levies, pay cuts and pay inequality. Their conditions compare unfavourably to those of the Garda, but they have even fewer rights when it comes to giving any kind of expression to the savaging of their living standards.

My office was astonished to be told that members of the armed forces are even prohibited from discussing issues relating to their working conditions with the Deputies. Why is that? I want to say to any soldier, sailor or member of the Air Corps that he or she can talk to my office in confidence.

In its submission to the public service pay commission in late August, the AAA specifically called for civil and trade union rights for the armed forces. Why are they being granted to gardaí but not soldiers?

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