Government accused of 'hypocrisy' for praising Army Ranger Wing while denying allowance increases
A member of the elite Army Ranger Wing chats to a young Afghan girl during the operation to airlift Irish citizens from Afghanistan. File picture
The Government has been accused of “rank hypocrisy” for praising members of the Army Ranger Wing (ARW) while still denying them tens of thousands of euro in allowance increases recommended 11 years ago.
The elite troops – lauded for their role in the airlift of Irish citizens from Afghanistan – won an increase of €60 per week in a special allowance in 2010.
The decision was made by third-party adjudicator Kieran McGovern, who ruled additional payments should be backdated to 2006. He said he'd have recommended more but for the economic downturn at the time.
PDForra, which represents enlisted personnel, took the case to arbitration on behalf of its ARW members.
The government refused to backdate the payment to 2006, instead saying it would backdate it from 2018.
PDForra was forced to go to court to be allowed to pursue this claim as the government had granted the increase conditional upon its acceptance.
It is estimated some personnel are owed up to €30,000.
Since 2019, PDForra sought engagement with the Department of Defence on the issue, but to no avail. As a result, it has made a complaint to the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
“Having spoken to members of the [ARW] unit, I can say that they were agreeable to negotiate on the quantum of arrears to be paid. However, the government failed to engage with us. The position of our association remains steadfast in our belief it's rank hypocrisy to stand beside these men for photo ops while still refusing to pay them what they justly deserve,” PDForra general secretary Gerard Guinan said.
“It's beyond reprehensible that pay issues in other areas of the public sector were addressed, while at the same time members of the ARW who depended upon the impartiality of the independent adjudicator and government were denied payment, or even consideration of part payment of outstanding arrears."
Commandant Conor King, general secretary of the officers' association, Raco, said the ARW was rightly lauded for its role in the evacuation of Irish citizens from Kabul, but the Government “needs to recognise their loyalty, bravery and professionalism of these warriors by paying them and their families what they are owed".
Comdt King also highlighted a promise made in the Defence White Paper of 2015 to further enhance the capabilities of the ARW, in particular with the aim of increasing the strength of the unit considerably.
“As far back as 2016, it was reported that the unit was to double in size as the Defence Forces responded to the perceived increase in the threat of international terrorism.
"Unfortunately, the unit has seen no increase in establishment [numbers] over the last six years of the White Paper, which is hugely disappointing. Moreover, the inability of the Defence Forces to retain a pool of suitably qualified and experienced personnel has meant that the key skills gaps which the unit has sought to fill, from logistics, to engineers, medics, bomb disposal and IT specialists have not been filled,” Comdt King said.
