Page 57 - Signal Winter 2019

One word- safety. On a daily basis military personnel handle lethal weaponry, fly low-level aircraft or are at sea in some of the most dangerous waters on the planet. Defence is a serious business, it is no place for a novice. Unfortunately, due to no fault of their own we now have very junior personnel being tasked with carrying out duties that would normally be assigned to a far more experienced colleague. Such a situation would not be tolerated in any other walk of life. Why should it be acceptable in the Defence Forces?
Addressing the issues relating to manning and retention levels will be no quick-fix, but what are the tactical steps that you would like to see taken that could have some level of strategic impact in terms of improving the situation?
This problem can be stabilised quite rapidly in my opinion. Firstly, agreeing to pay troops the national minimum wage for additional rostered security duty hours worked would stop the exodus in its tracks. Secondly, if the Department of Defence just paid the same sea-going allowances to their personnel as the Department of the Marine pays to theirs, the Navy’s problems could be lessened significantly. Travel and subsistence rates for all 300,000 public servants working on land are standardised, so why not the 1,500 or so public servants working at sea? It really is that simple. Furthermore, the money is already there in the Defence budget so no additional funding from the central exchequer would be required. This should have been sorted years ago. It is incredible that it has been allowed to continue. The Department of Defence’s emphasis needs to pivot from recruitment to retention. The current approach has been a complete failure and is an appalling waste of taxpayer’s money.
| CATHAL BERRY |
In your post-military career, what are your plans and how do you look back on your term of service within the Defence Forces?
Well actually I’m looking forward to rejoining the Defence Forces once this completely unnecessary pay issue has been resolved. Indeed I only retired temporarily so that I could raise awareness and advocate for change. Had I stayed in service I would only be treating the symptoms of the crisis rather than its underlying cause.
“In my opinion the current problems can be stabilised quite rapidly.”
Comdt Berry on deployment with EUFOR as part of the Army Ranger Wing in Chad.
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