Page 4 - Signal Summer 2019

RACO OPINION
SIGNAL
Dear RACO Member,
As I mark the first 6 months of my tenure as General Secretary, I regret to report that the Dysfunctional Cycle of Turnover being suffered by the Defence Forces, identified by University of Limerick researchers in 2015 and 2017, has continued unabated. It is now to a point where Óglaigh na hÉireann is at its lowest strength in decades. 3,200 personnel left the Defence Forces between 2014 and 2018; almost 35% of the average strength for those years. 82% of these were premature voluntary retirements. In March of this year RACO reported to the Public Service Pay Commission that the turnover rate was a worryingly high 8.1%. It now stands at 9% overall, and 14% in the Naval Service.
The impact of operating with reduced numbers is clear. Ships are unable to go to sea and aircraft are not flying as a result of personnel shortages. Yet the Department of Defence continues to prioritise costly recruitment policies in favour of tangible retention initiatives. This historically high turnover rate is placing additional demands on those remaining in service, leading to the creation of a crippling operational and training tempo for service personnel. The Defence Forces has been the lowest paid public sector organisation for many years, while remaining, ironically the most trusted. The fact that the lowest paid public sector organisation in the State is also the most defenceless in terms of advocating for its rights is unfair and unacceptable.
The Defence Forces is currently surviving on the goodwill of its personnel; that willingness to go over and above the call of duty to achieve the mission or complete the task. The UL Climate Survey and Focus Group Reports shone a light on the increased stress and low morale being experienced by Defence Forces soldiers, sailors and aircrew. Our people are double and treble jobbing in an effort to maintain operational output, due to inadequate trained manning levels in units. Many units are still below
50% Officer Strength-in-Station. This leads to inevitable burnout, and creates serious concerns for governance, and the ability to manage risk and ensure the wellbeing of our personnel.
A key theme of this Summer 2019 issue is Leadership. The current Defence Forces Retention Crisis has seen leaders emerge from unexpected sources. The Leadership shown by Veterans and Family Groups through highly vocal and visible social media campaigns and dignified parades for respect and loyalty for Defence Forces personnel have captured the imagination. Analogies have been drawn with the situation that pertained in 1990, when the wives and partners of Defence Forces personnel took to the streets in protest at appalling pay and service conditions. This environment saw the genesis of representation in the Defence Forces, and precipitated the Gleeson Commission, a review of DF remuneration and service conditions. The recent attempts by the Department of Defence to ignore and deny RACO’s right to fully represent our members under DFR S6 is an ongoing threat to representation in the Defence Forces, and one which the Professional Staff will continue to monitor closely. With both recruitment and retention policies continuing to fail in addressing the manning level crisis in the Defence Forces, a comprehensive external review, similar in nature and scope to the Gleeson Commission, should now be considered by Government where Management are unable or unwilling to address the underlying organisational issues.
This same level of leadership is now required from the General Staff, Minister for Defence and his Department if they wish to arrest the slide of this proud organisation into permanent decline. Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Mellett has publicly stated that low pay remains the ‘number one issue’ in the organisation, however there are other areas
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