Officers warn Defence Forces decline 'becoming irreversible'

The current trained strength of the Defence Forces has fallen to around 8,200.

The country's military officers are “undervalued and overstretched” and leaving the Defence Forces “at an unsustainable rate” for better-paid jobs elsewhere.

That is according to Commandant Conor King, general secretary of the officers' representative association, Raco, who told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence: “It's been demonstrated beyond a shadow of doubt that we (the Defence Forces) cannot hope to recruit our way out of this retention crisis.” 

The current trained strength of the Defence Forces has fallen to around 8,200.

“We ask ourselves, have we reached the bottom yet?” Comdt King said. “It's our firm belief that without adequately trained, motivated, and incentivised personnel, there can be no defence capability.” 

“The Defence Forces have been in a state of slow decline for almost a decade, and it has reached the point where this decline is becoming irreversible."

Comdt King said the increased rates of voluntary departures and rapid induction over the past number of years mean that 24% of all operational personnel in the army, air corps, and naval service have five years’ experience or less.

“For officers, it is even more stark, with 35% of all commissioned officers having less than five years’ service. This has severe implications for governance and supervision and increases organisational risk,” Comdt King said.

He warned that the 'dysfunctional cycle of turnover', identified by University of Limerick researchers in 2017, has led to an ever-decreasing pool of suitably qualified and experienced personnel, “and in an organisation whose stock in trade is the profession of arms and the management and execution of lethal force, this is a grave risk". 

Since 2016 the Defence Forces has inducted 3,116 personnel while losing 3,679 — 41% of the average strength over the five years since.

Comdt King said Raco's key message is that the resourcing, remuneration, motivation, and retention of personnel is critical to saving the Defence Forces and ensuring its viability into the future.

He told the committee members that the cost-benefit of retention over recruitment is self-evident.

Conor King, general secretary of Raco. 

“The cost of training one officer cadet is estimated at over €100,000. At what point of dysfunction will management favour retention over the continual failing demands of recruitment? We cannot go to market to replace a middle manager such as an experienced captain or sergeant. We replace them with cadets and recruits. The cost to train a specialist officer in engineering, ordnance, or communications is significantly higher,” he said.

Comdt King said the Defence Forces willingly forgo the right to industrial action and submit to military law. They are subject to mandatory selection for overseas service, required to achieve strict annual medical and fitness standards, subject to compulsory random drug testing, liable to be posted away from family for extended periods of time, and ultimately willingly volunteer to place themselves in harm’s way.

“Unfortunately, this loyalty and commitment to serve has attracted much praise but little else from successive governments,” Comdt King said.

Sinn Féin TD John Brady described Comdt King's comments as “pretty damning".

Independent senator Gerard Craughwell, a former soldier, said: “The RAF are protecting our skies, EU ships protecting our seas. It's only a matter of time before we have Group 4 protecting our army barracks."

Committee chairman Fine Gael TD Charlie Flanagan said the situation “is a matter of some concern to us".