Page 5 - Signal Summer 2019

that require extensive scrutiny and review in order to tackle this unprecedented Retention Crisis. The Defence Forces is crying out for a training establishment and an overseas establishment for Junior Officers and NCOs to give struggling operational units some breathing space to carry out their day to day activities, and practice meaningful consolidation. Proven retention initiatives such as Fixed Period Promotion and a Service Commitment Scheme for Pilots must be reinstated without delay, as must Specialised Instructor Allowance for the countless officers fully engaged in induction training throughout the organisation. Finally, the Amárach Research survey on the Single Pension Scheme for Post 2013 new entrants has exposed the greatest threat to the retention of Defence Forces Officers. If 79% of this cohort leave the Defence Forces well in advance of their mandatory retirement ages due to the lack of adequate pension provisions, then the recent unprecedented and unsustainable levels of induction training will have been for nothing. To his credit, Minister of State Kehoe has acknowledged and committed to addressing this critical issue.
These are undoubtedly interesting times for representation in the Defence Forces. The overtures made by the Department to ICTU on behalf of PDFORRA have brought our weakened industrial relations status into sharp focus. The implications for military law, command and control and indeed Defence Forces ethos and values are unclear. The military advice to Government on this existential issue will be crucial in determining the future makeup of representation in the DF. An independent, standing Defence Forces Pay Review Body akin to the UK model would recognise the unique nature of military service and ensure that the Defence Forces are no longer disadvantaged when it comes to pay and service conditions. RACO does not wish to be forced down the route of Trade Unionism,
as it is incompatible with military service and our ethos. We do however need a credible alternative to ensure that our loyalty is not taken advantage of.
In the first half of 2019, RACO has engaged with Manage- ment on a range of key issues pertaining to the service conditions of DF Officers. The Association is playing a key part in the reform of the DF Conciliation and Arbitration Scheme, and in the long-awaited implementation of the EU Working Time Directive. The recent unprecedented appearance before the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence has served to highlight the Defence Forces retention crisis to a wider audience. Com- prehensive submissions to the Public Service Pay Com- mission were amplified by an oral presentation in March 2019. With your support and engagement, RACO will con- tinue to champion the wellbeing of its members.
Is mise,
Conor King
RACO General Secretary
Left to right: Comdt Shane Keogh (RACO President), Comdt Conor King (RACO Gen Sec) and Lt Col Derek Priestley (RACO Dep Gen Sec).
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