Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Successive Governments have praised the loyalty and commitment of the Defence Forces but have largely ignored anything to do with their pay. Today's edition of The Irish Timesreports the Public Service Pay Commission as being constrained in what it was able to do when it reviewed Defence Forces pay. Following years of neglect and poor pay, the Defence Forces deserve better than what is coming to them today. While the Government’s fear that opening the floodgates by increasing Defence Forces pay might encourage industrial unrest in other areas of the public sector, it should have the courage to address this matter, as the alternative scenario is far more serious.

A retention crisis in any other sector of the public service can be addressed by the use of agency or civilian staff but this is not the case with the Defence Forces. Nor can the job of protecting the security of the State, our territorial waters and airspace be undertaken by any personnel other than members of the Defence Forces. It is not possible to contract in somebody on a bomb-disposal mission tonight if an explosive device is found in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway or anywhere else. The only way to properly address the retention crisis is through a proper pay review - another Gleeson commission.

The widely and now loudly articulated concerns of Defence Forces members are not just for their own welfare but for the integrity of the Defence Forces and the very serious duties and missions they undertake. This is the absolute minimum the Government can do. While the report of the pay commission should be cautiously welcomed, an increase of 96 cent a day in the military service allowance is hardly something to be screaming from the rooftops. Increases in allowances are welcome and long overdue but the bottom line is that core pay has not been addressed.

I believe the commission will suggest that core pay needs to be looked at. There needs to be an immediate examination of everything to do with the Defence Forces. The €20,000 for pilots will be welcome, but what about the air traffic controllers and fitters to keep the aircraft in the air? What about senior NCOs in infantry battalions who are core to the running of the battalion? That will need to be addressed.

The Public Service Pay Commission did all it could, given its terms of reference and the constraints placed on it. I hope that PDFORRA and RACO will accept whatever is on the table, but will do so as an interim offer. I hope we will not have a long drawn-out debate while soldiers, sailors and airmen wait for whatever paltry few shillings come their way.

However, the Government can do many things that do not come in under pay. On radio this morning, retired Commandant Cathal Berry spoke about paying out of his own pocket for an MRI scan for a soldier. That is totally unacceptable. Healthcare and family care need to be looked after as does accommodation in barracks. Soldiers, sailors and airman should not have to sleep in their cars or on ships after being at sea for several weeks. We cannot continue to have millions of euro worth of hardware tied up in Haulbowline or aircraft stuck on the ground because we do not have technicians to fix them.

The sad fact is that people in the know are saying that between now and Christmas, the pay commission's report will ultimately lead to an exodus of several hundred people and possibly up to 1,000. We are struggling to meet the requirements of duties at home and abroad, while at the same time we are looking for a seat on the United Nations Security Council. The two things just do not match.

At the end of the day we cannot continue to hope this will go away. We urgently need a Gleeson-type commission to complete a root-and-branch examination of what is required to keep the Defence Forces going. People argue that there is no need for the Defence Forces. I wonder how it would be if a village in Donegal were to burn to the ground because there are no Defence Forces members to go out and fight fires, as nearly happened earlier this year. What will we do when we get the next storm? What will we do when the next natural disaster hits the country? What will we do the next time there is a search for bodies? Who does that? The Defence Forces are always there 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

This has to stop. Telling us that we are proud of the men in uniform is a thing of the past. We will not even give medals to some of them who are deserving of them. At the end of the day pride is expressed in the way we treat people. I dread to think of the messages I will get today from the wives and partners of members of the Defence Forces. I know how the PDFORRA representatives will struggle today when they get the outcome from the pay review body. I know how the representatives of RACO, the commissioned officers' board, will struggle today. I plead with them to accept whatever is on the table and let us follow on with it.