Naval Service listing in the teeth of pay storm

LÉ William Butler Yeats of the Irish fleet

The Naval Service operates a roster system whereby personnel do two years on sea duty followed by two years on shore duty.

In an average year those on sea-going duty will complete more than 160 days at sea, often enduring appalling weather, away from their families and foregoing the normal pleasures most of us take for granted – including using our smartphones to catch up with news, sport and Netflix.

If you are out at sea you can't get connectivity with your mobile phone or laptop and it's a deprivation many young people find too hard to swallow, dropping out at interview time when they learn of this, or later after toughing it out for a while in the service and then finding it's something they just can't do without.

However, it's different in the Naval Service and it's certainly not as family-friendly as the Army.

“Basically when you join the Naval Service you have to up sticks and move to Cork, because that is where they are based,” a senior military source told the Irish Examiner.

Other military sources have said the “bottom line” is that people need to be “incentivised” to join the Naval Service and while they don't expect any core pay rises for these people any time soon, the need to provide them with far more attractive allowances is imperative before the service sinks altogether.

The Army is still involved in a number of overseas operations which provide troops with special allowances to bolster their meagre pay.

Naval Service personnel no longer have similar opportunities to earn extra money because migrant rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea, such as Operation Pontus and Operation Sophia, have been closed down. 

During their time on those operations they saved more than 18,000 people from drowning and recruitment was never as high.

The Naval Service is shedding highly-trained personnel in a number of areas who are vital to keeping ships at sea, including marine engineers, electricians and communications experts.

Political commentators and some government sources have said they expect the Covid-19-induced recession will make signing-up to the Defence Forces more attractive. However, one military source pointed out while this may be the case “you cannot replace somebody with years of experience with a trainee, even with the best will in the world.” 

'Our members need to be remunerated properly'

Mark Keane, president of PDForra said the seeds of the current crisis were sown many years ago with falling manpower levels and increases in ships, along with the reductions in allowances and pay.

"Someone needs to grab hold of the current crisis and act decisively. Outlining the prospect of meagre future increases without decisive action now is the rhetoric of the past. Our members need to be remunerated properly. They need contracts of service that give them security. Only when these things happen can we ensure retention and build recruitment to an appropriate level,” he said.

PDForra has taken legal action against the government's refusal so far to allow it affiliate with the umbrella union body, ICTU, so it can have a voice at the next public sector pay talks.

“PDforra only initiated legal action out of desperation. I’m sure the association would be willing to withdraw the legal action should the government permit us to affiliate soon. From our association's perspective, the imposition of public pay policy on our membership, who don’t have the ability to influence to any real extent that policy and who would be punished for not adhering to it, is morally bankrupt,” Mr Keane said.

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath, said as PDForra had initiated legal proceedings it would not be appropriate for him to comment.