Page 55 - Signal Winter 2019

‘The Thin Green Line’
SIGNAL talks to Commandant (Ret’d) Cathal Berry about his reasons for retirement and what his views are on the current resourcing and retention crisis within the Defence Forces. Since leaving the organisation he has been a high-profile contributor on these issues to print and broadcast media .
Disclaimer: The views expressed within this article are the personal views of Comdt (Ret’d) Cathal Berry and do not necessarily reflect those of RACO.
How do you look back on your time within the Defence Forces?
I have very fond memories of my time in the Defence Forces. Great place, great people. Having completed numerous tours of duty in the Balkans, Middle East and Africa, I was also fortunate to serve in the 5th Infantry Battalion in Dublin before it was disbanded during the cutbacks of 2012. Being a member of the Army Ranger Wing and an instructor in the Cadet School were the highlights of my 23 years’ service so far. I look forward to re- joining the Defence Forces in the near future as soon as this pay issue is resolved.
When did you leave the Defence Forces and was there a defining reason, or series of reasons for this?
I formally left the Defence Forces on the 3rd May last so I could attend the Respect and Loyalty Parade in Cork the following day.
I guess my doubts first began to emerge when I was deployed to Portlaoise Prison some years back. As the Military Commander there I was a key player in a system where troops who were working extensive hours on armed duty in the prison, plus additional hours in home barracks and in formal military road convoys to and from Portlaoise were grossly underpaid.
More recently as a medical officer I was on the frontline of the current staff retention crisis. Part of my job was to conduct
mandatory pre-retirement medical examinations on military personnel exiting the service; the vast majority of whom were doing so early as they could no longer afford to stay. To learn that troops had to pay €300 for the courtesy of changing jobs was mind boggling. Injustices like these would not stand up to external scrutiny and could easily be rectified by ministerial direction. Indeed many of the current issues could and should be easily resolved through the internal Conciliation and Arbitration Scheme- if one was functioning of course.
I think it’s also important to emphasise though that this is not your classical industrial relations pay dispute. There is something deeper and more concerning at play, in my opinion. The reduced industrial relations status of military personnel should never be used as a licence for exploitation. On the contrary, the fact that troops voluntarily waive their right to industrial action in order to enhance organisational operational effectiveness should confer an even greater duty of care on an employer. In any other walk of life such a commitment to a workplace would be rewarded. In our case however it is actively punished.
You have spoken publicly on the issue of manpower levels and retention levels within the Defence Forces-why did you choose to go public on these issues?
Institutional silence has rarely served this country well and the current state of the Defence Forces is but another example. As all internal avenues for airing these legitimate grievances were exhausted the next logical step therefore was going public. Officers are expected to advocate for their troops and doctors in particular have a professional responsibility to speak up for their patients.
Even President Higgins himself has commented on this issue, which was a significant boost to morale. It would be remiss of me were I not to mention that the media have been incredibly supportive in raising awareness of the completely unnecessary suffering being endured by military families. The general public even more so, as people can recognise a blatant injustice when they see it. I even received messages of support from junior civil servants in the Department of Defence acknowledging the shortcomings in their department and distancing themselves from the conduct of their superiors.
How would you gauge, in your personal opinion, the organisational morale at present?
Rock bottom. As you can imagine being the lowest paid public servants in the country for no reason other than your unwavering loyalty to the state is having a devastating impact on morale. Troops rightly extrapolate from current military pay rates that they are neither wanted nor valued and they should go get a
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