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| RACO BDC 2017 |

these issues. The RACO Gen Sec has emphasised that
there has been no credible response to date from mili-
tary or civil management other than to talk about strategy
development in the context of White Paper projects. The
situation, therefore, gets worse and recruitment is unable
to address the essential elements of highly qualified and
experienced officers that are being lost to the organisation.
In his speech to conference, Minister with Special Re-
sponsibility for Defence, Mr Paul Kehoe TD, recognised
the challenge the organisation was facing in terms of re-
tention, and said that it was a challenge throughout the
public service. On the challenges to retain suitable quali-
fied personnel he said; “A range of recruitment methods
are being employed including direct entry competitions for
Mr Martin Wall, Irish Times. specialist positions and the scope to further expand direct
entry is being considered. I have also directed civil and
Relating to this issue at conference in his address, Lt Col military management to develop terms and conditions to
Naughton added; allow former members of the Defence Forces, with sought
“RACO, in our submission to the development of the Strat- after skills, to return to service.
egy Statement 2017-2020, also requested the immediate I anticipate that these will be brought to the Representative
introduction of HR policy initiatives on retention to address Associations in the coming weeks through the C&A pro-
the exodus of skilled and experienced staff. Alarmingly, the cess. The Defence Forces are also working hard to maxim-
White Paper Project on the review of HR Policies which ise the recruit intake and I am informed that the projected
was to include “retention” has not yet commenced. Rec- inductions for 2018 are anticipated to be similar to the
ommendations from two Board Reports on the Retention 2017 induction rate. I remain committed to maximising re-
of Air Corps Pilots for example, completed in 2014 and cruitment to the Defence Forces and ensuring that, where
2015, has not yet been acted upon. Rather than deal with possible, the terms and conditions of service are appropri-
the key constituent of HR policy on organisation “reten- ate to the needs of the organisation and, as favourable
tion”, the Department of Defence would appear to be vest- as they can be within the current budgetary parameters.”
ing greater interest and resource allocation in the “reen- The Minister also noted RACO’s dissatisfaction with the
gagement” of retired personnel. This is both confusing and current C&A scheme and lack of access to industrial rela-
contradictory while the exodus of trained professionals tions fora and said he was initiating an urgent review of
continues.” the C&A scheme and he also said that he was instructing
Department officials to undertake a review of the Focus
In the summation of his speech, the RACO General Sec- Group ‘Climate Survey’ with a view to addressing the is-
retary said that it was fundamental that both RACO and sues therein.
PDFORRA be included in the Review Working Group relat- The RACO Gen Sec noted that management had not
ing to C&A, as their exclusion, unlike Garda Representative grasped the true crisis in terms of organisation manning
Associations, is inconsistent with the current agreement levels or were not being provided with the real numbers in
as both bodies are signatories to the agreement to estab- units by Department officials.
lish the Review Working Group. More detail is available on
this in the accompanying article on Defence Forces indus- Lt Col Naughton also noted that Management’s failure
trial relations. The RACO Gen Sec also asked the Minister to advocate on behalf of those who serve in the Defence
to stand up for Defence Forces personnel by supporting Forces; “combined with RACO’s ‘2nd Division, Industrial
RACO and PDFORRA claims seeking equivalence to the Relations Status has resulted in a failed industrial relations
‘side deals’ approved by Government for other services position, where military personnel forego normal employee
in uniform. He also asked that retention initiatives be in- rights but management have an obligation to ensure that
troduced as a matter of urgency, meeting the unique de- members of the Defence Forces are not disadvantaged as
mands of military service while also bearing in mind the a result. Evidence of failure in this context can be seen in
findings of the 2017 Focus Group. the quantum of “side deal” agreement awarded to ICTU
In addressing the conference, the Chief of Staff of the De- Unions and approved by Government.”
fence Forces, Vice Admiral Mark Mark Mellett DSM, noted He added that it was good to see that the Minister noted
that retention within the organisation was a major issue the issue on New Entrant Superannuation as raised by
and that it was one of the responsibilities of senior man- conference and RACO wish to see timely action in order to
agement, both military and civilian, and to work addressing address clear anomalies on final benefits.

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