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An Irish Army officer leads a parade of soldiers during a recent commemoration.
Operation Fianna
Military group accuses government of running EU security operation on the cheap
700 military personnel across the Irish Defence Forces will take up positions this morning to work in Operation Fianna.
A MILITARY GROUP has accused the government of running the EU Presidency security operation on the cheap as they claim the Department of Defence has refused to pay money owed to senior officers leading the operation.
700 military personnel across the Irish Defence Forces will take up positions this morning to work in Operation Fianna – the mission to secure the European Political Community event in Dublin city centre.
They include helicopter and aircraft crews, soldiers and naval sailors – they are led from a Joint Task Force (JTF) centre in Mckee Barracks in Dublin.
The senior officers, from the rank of Commandant in the army and Air Corps or a Naval Lieutenant Commander and above, lead troops across the country. They commenced work on Wednesday morning and will stand down from duty in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Some of the commanding officers are stationed managing operations at the JTF. On the ground, and at unit level in the skies and on the sea, they are leading frontline personnel on operations.
As reported previously by The Journal the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (RACO) have been in a row with the Department of Defence over the refusal to pay those commanders an allowance that the troops they lead are already getting for the work.
In a statement this morning RACO has accused the Department of Defence (DOD) of making an order that means senior officers “receive nothing, and expect them to work for free defending and protecting European leaders”.
Military personnel do not have the right to strike or take industrial action.
Industrial relations disputes with the gardaí, civil servants and also solicitors have been resolved in recent days when they threatened industrial action or were engaged in strikes.
Deadline
RACO set a deadline last night for the Department of Defence to solve the problem but this morning Lieutenant Colonel Conor King, general secretary of RACO, said that has passed and said they have been left with no other option but to go public with the issue.
“Allowances such as Security Duty Allowance (SDA) exist to compensate people for security duties beyond normal working hours. That is exactly what senior officers will be doing this week: long nights, weekend duty, continuous availability, and time-critical decisions in a high-threat environment.
“The risk and the hours don’t shrink because of the rank on someone’s shoulder. If anything, the senior officer carries the ultimate responsibility for the people and the outcome. It is simply unfair that an officer commanding personnel who receive these payments is excluded from it on rank alone,” he said.
RACO said that defence minister Helen McEntee told RACO delegates at their annual conference three weeks ago that she was “committed to recognising the significant work” carried out by the commander.
“Sadly, nothing has been done, and it appears that the government want our members to work for free,” King added.
RACO president Lt Col Martin Ryan, said that the missions to secure Ireland cannot be done without the critical input and leadership of the senior officers.
“Our entire maritime patrol structure relies solely on senior officer pilots to skipper the aircraft, who have been refused the appropriate payment for years.
“As the State seeks to project an image of security competence and readiness, the public and our partners should know that this all being achieved through the blatant exploitation of Defence Forces officers. It is truly Defence on the Cheap.”
A spokesman for the Department of Defence said this morning in a statement that there had been an offer to pay Commandants the allowance, but this continues to fall short of what RACO is requesting.
“In recognition of the important role being undertaken, the Minister was pleased to successfully negotiate yesterday the payment of an allowance to Defence Force’s Officers at the rank of Commandant who are undertaking 24-hour duties as part of the State’s security provision. This brings all ranks, up to and including Commandants, in receipt of additional payments for duties undertaken.
“As with comparable ranks in An Garda Síochána and across the Civil Service, senior military leaders at the rank of Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel do not attract such allowances or additional payments,” the statement said.
The Journal understands that garda superintendents, the equivalent of a Lieutenant Colonel, perform an on-call service on a 24-hour basis. They receive a so-called availability allowance for this.
Sources have confirmed that an internal costing of the allowance by the Defence Forces Board set the cost for the military measure at a meagre €64,000 for the duration of EU Presidency.
RACO, in response to the DOD statement, called the comparison to gardaí “false and disingenuous”. The group also said that it rejected to offer overnight as it “did not acknowledge the fact that Lieutenant Colonels in particular are being rostered in advance for 24 hour duty”.
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