Page 38 - Signal Winter 2019

| RACO BDC 2019 |
Comdt Conor King, RACO Gen Sec, Addressing Conference.
that not only has this risk not been mitigated by credible retention initiatives but has in fact deteriorated is truly shameful.“
Minister, my address to you and to all present is not intended to be an exercise in fault finding. It is an honest appraisal of where we are as an organisation, and of the current, unfortunately and unnecessarily adversarial industrial relations climate that pertains to the Defence Forces; but most importantly it seeks to provide real and achievable solutions to this mess we find ourselves in. I know that you are committed to turning the ship around, and RACO pledges to continue to seek to work with Senior Military Leadership and your Officials, and provide professional and considered input, welcome or unwelcome as the case may be. Simply put, as key stakeholders in the Defence Forces family, RACO is and will always be an essential component of a healthy Defence Organisation.
We continue to train our people to the highest standard, at significant cost to the Exchequer and to the human resources allocated to this onerous but essential task. We align their qualifications with best industry practice and academic accreditation, but then we fail to retain them. The oft-quoted ideal of Value for Money has been lost by those charged with its delivery.
The Dysfunctional Cycle of Turnover being suffered by the Defence Forces, identified by University of Limerick researchers in 2017 has continued unabated, to a point where Óglaigh na hÉireann is at its lowest strength in decades, and morale has never been lower in my over 20 years’ service.
3,200 personnel left the Defence Forces between 2014 and 2018 which is an astonishing 34.7% of the average strength for those years. 82% of these were premature voluntary retirements.
We are all too familiar with the trend of prioritising expensive recruitment over real retention. The unprecedented recruitment drive in 2017 yielded a single figure net increase in personnel, and €15m was spent in that year on induction training. Last year, the Defence Forces sought to induct a similar number of candidates through a highly visible and professional recruitment campaign. Frighteningly, 2018 saw a net loss of 120 personnel! Definitive proof if it were needed, that we cannot recruit our way out of this crisis.
In February 2018, the Defence Forces Turnover Rate (Total exits divided by average strength in a year) was a frighteningly high 7.69%. It was then estimated that at that rate, while maintaining the unsustainable current induction rates of 700 per year, the Defence Forces would not reach its authorised strength of 9,500 until 2035.
In May of this year RACO reported to the Public Service Pay Commission that the Turnover Rate was at 8.1%. It now stands at 10.3% overall.
There have been 558 discharges in the first eight months of 2019. In July 2019 alone, the month the Pay Commission finally reported its recommendations, there were 97 Discharges. Our overall strength has reduced month on month despite the best efforts of our people tasked with induction training. At this rate of churn, we will never reach our authorised strength, but will continue to reduce in number. This surely cannot be the intent of the Department? We have consistently heard that you are committed to the strength of 9,500 personnel. If this is the case, then urgent, fundamental remedial action must be undertaken. This picture tells a different story SLIDE
OC PR Branch Lt Col Johnny Whittaker
38 | | WINTER ‘19 |