The country’s highest-paid public servants, some earning €200,000 to €350,000, are underpaid by up to 30% and should no longer be subject to pay caps, according to a Department of Public Expenditure report.

Ten years ago, in the teeth of the great financial crisis, the then finance minister Brian Lenihan moved to cut public sector pay.

Pay for the country's top civil servants should be reviewed given an ongoing difficulty in attracting talent despite earning €200,000 and more a year, the Public Service Pay Commission has found.

Military management has absolutely nothing to fear from rank and file Defence Forces personnel having an affiliation with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU).

Officers are sleeping in barracks in rooms where there are rat and mice droppings and when they can't avail of limited living-in accommodation they're forced to travel long distances to postings or pay exorbitant rents.

The country's military officers have warned their patience is running thin and said if any other organisation had been treated as badly as the Defence Forces they would have taken industrial action by now.

The Government has been called out for its “hypocrisy” for calling on the public to recognise the work of the national services while at the same time not paying the defence forces members “a comparable wage”.

The exodus from the Defence Forces continues unabated with 70 personnel bailing out of the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps last month - 16 of whom were recruits in training.

Eddie Mulligan explains that, beyond pay, the quality of life for members of the Defence Forces is sadly austere and needs to be addressed IN recent weeks, there has been much commentary about life in the Defence Forces but very little mention of the ‘quality of life’ enjoyed. In the military, one of the responsibilities of a commanding officer is to

There is a strong likelihood the country’s military officers will reject the Public Service Pay Commission’s (PSPC) “paltry set of recommendations for increased allowances” unless the Government acts swiftly to address key issues highlighted by the association which represents them.

Almost 60% of the Defence Forces personnel plan to quit within two years, a survey carried out as part of the Public Service Pay Commission report has revealed.

The percentage of those looking to quit the Defence Forces for better opportunities in the private sector is highest among air corps personnel, with those in the naval service a close second.

Military representative associations fear more than 800 members could leave the Defence Forces this year, the highest number ever.

RACO, the association representing Defence Forces officers, has postponed a decision on accepting increased allowances offered in the Public Service Pay Commission (PSPC) report until it hosts a series of roadshows for its members at military installations.

A pay review is to be undertaken in the next three months aimed at addressing the exodus of highly trained engineers and technicians in the Defence Forces, especially in the Naval Service.

Small increases in some allowances are unlikely to stem the ongoing exodus from the Defence Forces, the association representing military officers has said.

The two representative associations for the Defence Forces are set to have their national executive meeting within days to consider the fall-out from the Public Service Pay Commission (PSPC) report.

Reserves in the Defence Forces have to travel to training and exercises at their own expense and get paid, on average, 19% less than their full-time counterparts for doing the same work.

A former senior chief petty officer in the Naval Service has said he never thought he would see the day when two ships had to be tied-up indefinitely because of manpower shortages.

The naval service is to tie-up two of its ships in port indefinitely due to a deepening manpower crisis.

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has defended his fiscal policies and rejected criticism by the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC) which said in a report that the Government’s medium-term projections for the public finances are “not credible”.

The disparity in pay and conditions between An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces involved in protecting visiting VIPs was again highlighted yesterday.

Defence Forces members, their families and retired military personnel are expected to vote en masse against Fine Gael in both the local and European elections.

Proposed increases in allowances for members of the Defence Forces could make the retention and recruitment crisis worse, not better, it has been warned.

Members of the country's Reserve Defence Forces (RDF) are being paid on average 18% less than the rates being given to their counterparts in the regular forces.

The two-tier pay system which sees hospital consultants hired since October 2012 paid 30% less than longer-serving colleagues will be a major focus of attention at the AGM of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) which gets underway in Co Kerry today.

Irish Naval patrol ship captains are being forced to seek ‘volunteers’ to crew their vessels due to decreasing numbers available.

Moving to year-round recruitment won’t solve the ever-decreasing numbers in the Defence Forces and it’s being claimed it’s akin to “rearranging the deckchairs on a still sinking Titanic.”

The Defence Forces are facing a mounting crisis in their officer ranks after a survey revealed 79% of those inducted since 2013 are planning to quit ahead of mandatory retirement, because they are on reduced pension terms compared to other public servants.

Defence Forces veterans are set to hold a national march in Cork on May Day to highlight poor pay and conditions endured by serving members of the military.

The health service faces severe disruption in the new year after nurses voted overwhelmingly for strike action in a dispute over pay and staff shortages.

Two nursing unions are set to ballot 46,000 members for strike action next week over concerns that pay is too low to recruit and retain staff.

The crisis of nurse recruitment and retention plaguing the health service shows no sign of abating with seven in 10 of the current crop of fourth-year student nurses considering emigrating following graduation.

A survey of 167 personnel who opted to pay to be discharged early from the Defence Forces shows that the vast majority are leaving for better pay and conditions elsewhere.

A survey of 167 personnel who opted to pay to be discharged early from the Defence Forces shows that the vast majority are leaving for better pay and conditions elsewhere.

The civil service is struggling to recruit staff in a number of key areas because salaries are not keeping pace with jobs in the private sector.

The naval service is facing a personnel crisis, having failed to secure sufficient numbers for its latest recruitment class.

Increasing the pay of hospital consultants and nurses, outside of the new public service deal, is a likely means of resolving the crisis in the health sector.

Putting troops through battleground training exercises involving live bullets and grenades has been severely curtailed due to the lack of suitably-qualified officers.

Incentives for ex-pilots to return to the Air Corps, promoting enlisted men to officers, and attracting more women may stem the exodus of highly-skilled personnel from the military.

Minister of state Paul Keogh has announced measures which he hopes will stem an exodus of personnel from the Defence Forces.

More than 2,900 members of the Defence Forces took early retirement in the last five years — primarily due to poor pay and conditions — which has led to a significant loss of experience.

More than 2,900 members of the Defence Forces took early retirement in the last five years — primarily due to poor pay and conditions — which has led to a significant loss of experience.

The public service pay deal is set for overwhelming acceptance as four more unions yesterday voted to back it.