A senior Irish Congress of Trade Unions official has said he and colleagues had a "giggle" over claims that allowing PDForra to affiliate with it was a threat to national security.

A private scheme set up by the association which represents rank-and-file members of the Defence Forces has saved many personnel from being discharged on medical grounds because they are getting speedy treatment north of the border.

A private healthcare plan created by a Defence Forces representative association, as a result of dwindling resources in the Defence Forces medical corps, has proved so successful that it is planned to roll it out to the families of military personnel’s and veterans.

The Government is sending Ireland's elite troops to "one of the most dangerous places in the world" but is refusing to pay them increased allowances agreed by independent arbitration in 2010.

Up to 500 soldiers, sailors and aircrews who were supposed to be compulsorily retired next year are to be given a three-year extension to their contracts.

The organisation representing enlisted personnel in the Defence Forces has said recruitment in the Naval Service has reached a new crisis point and the only way to solve it is with pay increases to retain personnel.

The Taoiseach and Minister for Defence are visiting Irish Peace Keeping missions in Mali in West Africa this week.

The association that represents enlisted men in the Defence Forces is bringing a legal challenge against the Department of Defence and has brought in a “big gun” to help it.

The organisation representing around 6,000 members of the Defence Forces is to take legal action against the Department of Defence after it refused to implement an adjudicator’s recommendation to pay around €5m to hard-pressed personnel.

Colleagues have praised a man who helped establish an association representing enlisted Defence Forces personnel and, in the process, outfoxed military intelligence.

The association which represents the bulk of the Defence Forces will today lodge papers in the High Court seeking to challenge military law which prevents soldiers, sailors, and aircrews joining public marches.

A European ruling has criticised the Government for excluding soldiers, sailors, and aircrew from full engagement in national pay talks, potentially opening the way for further court action.

More than 30 members of the naval service have asked to apply for discharge from the force in the past month, which has been described as “unprecedented” and “worrying” by their representative organisation.

The organisation representing enlisted members of the Defence Forces says it will support the Air Corps whistleblower who is facing possible dismissal at a Medical Board hearing today.

An official complaint has been made to the Health & Safety Authority (HSA) about the dire conditions soldiers guarding Portlaoise Prison have to endure.

Naval officers organised a whip-around to bail out a number of recruits who have not been paid for weeks.

PDForra, the organisation representing enlisted Defence Forces members, says it will assist the Air Corps whistleblower facing dismissal next month.

The organisation that represents the vast bulk of Defence Forces personnel is “preparing to go to war” in the new round of pay talks. It wants treatment comparable to the Garda representative associations, which have clawed back pay and allowances.

The naval service is haemorrhaging enlisted personnel because of poor pay and a recruitment drive to plug the gaps will not work unless wages are significantly improved, it has been claimed.

The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) will not prosecute the Naval Service after some of its personnel were exposed to asbestos during maintenance work onboard ships last year.