Members of the Defence Forces are feeling “despondent” and “saddened” after a recent report found evidence of bullying, sexual assault, and harassment in the organisation, it was claimed on Tuesday.
Gerard Guinan, who is the General Secretary of PDFORRA, was speaking ahead of their annual delegate conference in Trim.
PDFORRA is the association that represents 6,500 enlisted members of the Army, Naval Service, and Air Corps.
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Speaking to The Irish Mirror, he said: “I think with the findings of the (Independent Review Group) IRG a lot of people are despondent, they’re saddened by the results but they’re eager to get on with the job of implementing the recommendations of the IRG.
“They want to see the Statutory Inquiry stood up as quick as possible. They want to have the oversight body stood up, they want to have the fundamental changes by the IRG in relation to redress and wrongs fully implemented so is to ensure people can serve in a dignified workplace.”
In March, The IRG published its report which said that the Defence Forces is not a safe working environment for either men or women.
The report was established to investigate allegations of bullying and sexual harassment in the military.
Following the publication, the Cabinet agreed to set up a State inquiry after the report recommended a “statutory fact-finding process” in a bid to ensure accountability and transparency.
Last year, The Commission on the Defence Forces was published which examined the capabilities of the Irish military and made a number of sweeping recommendations.
But Mr. Guinan said it was time that the Government “grasped the nettle and implemented the findings.”
He revealed there were 55 motions for delegates to vote on over the three days at the conference which is being held at the Knightsbrook Hotel.
He explained: “The principal issues that will be discussed are the application of the Working Time Directive, the contract for soldiers, pay and allowances, and retention and recruitment, they’re the primary issues that will be addressed at the conference this year.”
Mr Guinan said he felt the failure to introduce the Working Time Directive to date was a “major issue” and was a reason the Defence Forces were battling a recruitment and retention crisis.
Mr Guinan added: “It’s a major issue. PDFORRA has been fighting the case for the equitable introduction of the Working Time Directive for the past ten years.
“We’ve taken numerous court cases on it. We’ve undertaken a mediation for in excess of 30-40 members back in 2019.
“So we see it as fundamental to ensuring the retention of personnel within the Defence Forces.”
He also stressed another issue that needs to be addressed to keep members was pay and allowances.
Mr Guinan explained: “I think pay and allowances are core to that. We do have a situation where the allowances members receive are far behind what would be received in the wider public service.”
He also called for the way in which members of the naval service access the Patrol Duty Allowance to be simplified.
He explained: “The Patrol Duty Allowance for members of the naval service, there was a promise to make that less complex than it currently is and I think if we were to retain personnel in the naval service that needs to be reformed urgently in order to ensure that we have got capable and qualified personnel to sail our ships.”
When asked if he felt confident there would be improvements in the Defence Forces in the coming years, Mr. Guinan said: "You have to be confident that they'll come in.
"We too would hope that we can get back to recruiting citizens in numbers that we need to fill out the Defence Forces and reach the recommendations of The Commission on the Defence Forces which was 11,500. At the moment, we're below 8,000."
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