Better care needed for those who give 'unquestionable loyalty to the State'

PDForra is calling on the government to address the inadequacy of medical care for serving members of the Defence Forces.

Military personnel have fixed-term contracts of up to five years, five to nine years and 9-12 years. Thereafter they have contracts of between 12 and 21 years.

At contract renewal times they are subjected to rigorous medical and physical examinations and can be discharged where their medical grading does not meet required standards. Additionally, during these periods they can be discharged from service for being 'Below Defence Force Medical Standards.'

This occurs where an injury or illness renders a person unfit for service due to the 'unresolvable nature of the injury/illness.'

Over the past number of years, all inpatient services within the Defence Forces have been eliminated and previous services such as x-rays and ultrasound examination have been farmed out to the public hospitals where there are long waiting lists. This jeopardises recovery periods and can lead to personnel being discharged.

PDForra president, Mark Keane, said: “Our members give unquestionable loyalty to the State.

They frequently go beyond the limits of physical and mental endurance to ensure the completion of their mission. This was never as evident as when our members rescued thousands of refugees from the Mediterranean Sea during Operation Pontus.

“Additionally, members of the Air-Corps engaged in air ambulance duties witness and care for victims with extreme trauma. Soldiers, on a daily basis engage in exercises and missions that can render injury to their person. Surely in situations where members are injured in service there exists a moral obligation to assist these people to get well,” he said.

Mr Keane said PDForra has been calling repeatedly for the appointment of a Defence Forces psychiatrist.

“We are calling on government to stop the winding down and penny-pinching within our Medical Services. We need these to be properly resourced for the good of our members and in the interests of sustainable retention and recruitment of members.” he added.