Defence Forces has become a ‘leaky bucket’ due to retention crisis, minister warned

The Defence Forces organisation has become “a leaky bucket” that cannot be filled because of a major retention crisis, Defence Minister Simon Coveney was warned today.

Lieutenant Colonel Conor King, general secretary of the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (RACO), said the Government’s target to achieve a force with a minimum strength of 11,500 is not “realistic or achievable” due to current policies.

He told the minister that commissioned officers could only come to the conclusion that the issue “does not register on the list of priorities at the cabinet table”.

Speaking at RACO’s annual delegate conference in Naas, Mr King said the key concerns of commissioned officers “have been left to fester” for another year.

“The Raco national executive and professional staff are wholly satisfied that we have raised these issues on behalf of our members with you minister, with our departmental colleagues both civil and military, and with members of the government through Oireachtas committees,” he said.

“We can only come to the sad conclusion now that what we see as an existential crisis, for many reasons which I will expand on, does not register on the list of priorities at the cabinet table. And that is not our fault, but it is our problem.”

He said the conference is unsurprisingly dominated by the retention crisis still gripping the Defence Forces.

This is evidenced by a “historically low strength” and a persistently high level of turnover, he said in his address to Mr Coveney.

He said the “dysfunctional” cycle of turnover “is a grave risk” in an organisation involved in the profession of arms and management, and execution of lethal force.

“We have welcomed the regular commitments to achieving a minimum strength of 9,500 trained personnel,” said Mr King.

“But given the lack of action on crucial retention measures, and the lack of respect and consideration afforded to those commissioned women and men who are to be relied upon to drive the changes required, we know we have an almost [hopeless] task to get back to 9,500.

“We don’t see this new minimum strength of 11,500 as realistic or achievable under the current policies. And, with respect, we suspect that you don’t either.”

He says the “honest” figure for the size of the Defence Forces is 7,752, when those in training are taken into account.

“The rate of churn has also led to a crippling recruitment effort, delivered by our members with little support and scant reward, but no amount of water has been able to fill the leaky bucket that the organisation has become,” said Mr King.

“We are now told that we are to strive for 11,500. But how? Unless we prioritise retention over this obsession with recruitment it will never happen. It’s time to value the people who we already have in the organisation.”

He said that last year RACO advised the minister that at the then turnover rate, the Defence Forces would not meet its assigned minimum strength of 9,500 until after 2050.

“The current turnover rate of 11.7pc, and the current strength of below 8,000 are sure signs that our people have lost faith. They simply have stopped believing the spin,” he added.

Mr King told the minister he is presiding over a situation in which officers are managing junior enlisted personnel instructors under their command who are now paid more than they are.

“Why should officers volunteer for onerous instructional appointments, in breach of working time rules, with inequitable remuneration?” he said. “Our members are loyal, not stupid.”

He said the public service “single pension scheme” in place since 2013 no longer provides a viable benefit that reflects the contributions of its members.

Mr King said it is seen by members as a betrayal of “new entrants” who will have no option but to exit the Defence Forces to secure a viable financial future.

Meanwhile, he said serious concerns raised by the Women of Honour group “tell us that no organisation can be complacent when it comes to unacceptable or criminal behaviour”.

“We must all strive to keep the Defence Forces strong and vibrant but, above all, safe and welcoming for all members,” he said.

“We continue to strongly believe in the value of the well-established Independent Review Group process and urge you not to allow it to be buried.”