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| PRESIDENT’S SPEECH |

change, to develop a workable system, and in doing so
provide rational solutions to real problems. WE ARE VERY MUCH AWARE OF THE
It is important to change. I think it’s fair to say that our EXTERNAL CONSTRAINTS THAT ARE
Members recognise this reality more than most. We need RESTRICTING OUR ORGANISATION FROM
to embrace change, and force a modernisation agenda. EVOLVING, FROM IMPROVING OUR CON-
But the impetus to change must be based on a rational
analysis of the issues at hand. And not change, for the DITIONS TO THE POINT THAT WE CAN
sake of change alone. To that end, it is incumbent on you RETAIN THOSE THAT WANT TO CON-
to recognise the unique nature of military service, to ac- TINUE TO SERVE. UNLESS YOU STEM
knowledge the fact that members of the Defence Forces THE ONGOING EXODUS, NO AMOUNT
forfeit many standard employee rights. It is time to aban- OF RECRUITMENT WILL REPLENISH THE
don the often unnecessary efforts to standardise the De- LOSS OF SKILL SETS AND EXPERIENCE.
fence Forces with what is deemed to be ‘public service AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO FALL BELOW
norms’. Particularly, where the proposed ”norms” are only
ever those that seem to work against our members, never OUR DESIGNED 9,500.
those that could improve our service conditions in equality
with the conditions of other public service members.
This agenda, I fear, is based on a lack of understand- take a heavy toll on the officer body. It is striking to state
ing within the senior membership of the Department of that there are units in our organisation where the effective
Defence of the real issues. And as a result there is in an officer strength in station is at 20%. The General Secre-
ongoing failure to adequately progress genuine concerns, tary clearly outlined the extent of this issue in his address.
and the only force for change is the often unnecessary and However, I want to reiterate that there is a personal con-
counter-productive standardisation agenda. sequence as a result. Where there are gaps, the officers,
So, we need change Minister, but change that improves NCOs and Private soldiers are required to perform numer-
the conditions of those serving in the Defence Forces, and ous additional duties, above and beyond what is accept-
change that acknowledges, and takes account of and re- able over a prolonged period.
spects, the unique aspects of our military service. Put plainly, if an officer is tasked with four appointments,
what is the nett effect? He or she can do one job extremely
Risk well, two jobs to a satisfactory standard, and three jobs
There is no doubt that the Climate Survey, and the sub- below the required standard. And when we ask him or her
sequent Focus Group report by the University of Limerick, to undertake 4 jobs, we fail and the Defence Organisation
highlighted the concern of individual members of the De- fails. This plays very heavily on the minds of our members,
fence Forces when it comes to “health and safety con- where they themselves are tasked with numerous roles,
cerns”. However, we need not rely solely on these reports or indeed they are tasking our Non-commissioned officers
to highlight these anxieties. It is palpable throughout the and soldiers with tasks without the appropriate resources
Brigades, palpable in each barrack, post, ship and loca- to go with it. It is testament to the loyalty of our members;
tion. At it has been palpable here over the last two days. In that they continue to perform regardless. However, we are
fact, it is self-evident, based on the ever-increasing gaps at that point where an error is inevitable. The question only
at all levels, and particularly in the middle and junior lead- remains if the error will be administrative in nature or, as
ership roles, that the lack of resources at the operational we all fear, catastrophic or lethal in consequence. This is
level, (this is at unit level, the coal face of the Defence Forc- among the causes of one of the staggering statistics re-
es), that this lack of resources presents a ‘real and present cently published in the Focus Group report, where is found
danger’ when we talk about health and safety. And that is that 16% of our personnel felt that they could not cope
where we must draw the line, the safety of our personnel, over the last month (that amounts to approximately 1500
all ranks, must remain paramount. It must come before people). That is an intolerable statistic for any organisation
organisational restraints, it must come before Public Ser- to digest, let alone our Defence Forces.
vice Pay Commission restraints, and it must come before I met an ordnance officer recently who informed me that
DPER restraints. And the onus remains on us, and you he was going to be on duty, away from home and family,
Minister, to highlight these realities, and to champion the for 40 days over a 2 month period. This was not a result of
cause of those who serve, with the aim of finding workable increased operational taskings but rather a consequence
solutions in an amicable fashion. of too few officers remaining in the Ordnance Corps. He
We must work together as our aims are one and the admitted that this was taking an enormous strain on his
same. Because if we fall short in this mission, the stress family life. As anyone could imagine it would. It is an abuse
and strain of these realities remains on the individual offic- of the loyalty of the members of the Defence Forces to ask
ers and NCOs at the coal face, and this cannot continue. them to continue on like this, with family life being sacri-
I feel the necessity to highlight to you that these realities ficed as a result.

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