Government was advised in early 1990s that the military should be legally covered by the Working Time Directive, which means Defence Forces personnel should be entitled to the same overtime payments and restrictions on working hours as other public servants

PDForra president Mark Keane said his association looks forward to engaging with officials from ICTU in the coming weeks as national pay talks commence

PDForra, which represents more than 6,000 enlisted personnel in the Defence Forces, has broken ranks with officers' association, RACO, and is not advocating the setting up of an independent pay review body for the country's military.

The association which represents the country's frontline Defence Forces has lodged papers in the High Court in an attempt to force the government to allow it affiliate with the umbrella union group Ictu.