'Defence Forces too short staffed for days off in lieu of pandemic effort'

PDForra president Mark Keane said getting extra days off would put even more pressure on those who remained on duty.

Frontline members of the Defence Forces cannot afford to take days off as a reward for the role they played in the battle against Covid-19 because there aren't enough of them 'to keep the show on the road' if this happens.

PDForra says the army, air corps, and naval service are so stretched that giving them extra days of annual leave as a reward for their efforts during the pandemic won't work, because it will place a huge burden on those who'll have to plug the gaps.

Instead, they believe the Government should provide them with a monetary reward for the effort they have put in.

The Defence Forces established a Covid-19 Joint Operational Planning Group (JOPG) on February 26, 2020 and commenced the provision of support to the HSE on the following March 13.

To date, they have provided 110,024 man-days which involves the provision of an average of 197 personnel per day in support of the response to the pandemic.

This support has been provided across a broad range of tasks and has included the provision of military planning expertise, command and control structures, engineering advice and works, logistics and transport, military medical assistance, providing Covid contact tracers, support to nursing homes, as well as support to national vaccination centres and the mandatory quarantine system.

They also assisted the HSE following the cyber-attack.

They delivered the supports and maintained operations at home and abroad in spite of ever-decreasing numbers.

Delegates attending the PDForra annual conference feel the Government has to recognise their contribution to the Covid-19 battle in some form or another.

PDForra general secretary Gerard Guinan said initially his national executive had looked at getting additional days' leave from the government.

“But because of the manpower crisis it might be more realistic for us to seek some form of a monetary gesture,” Mr Guinan said.

The Defence Forces currently has 1,000 less personnel than the minimum it is supposed to have and numbers continue to fall on an almost daily basis.

The minimum required for the security of the State is supposed to be 9,500 defence forces personnel. That breakdown is 7,520 for the army, 886 for the air corps, and 1,094 for the naval service.

However, latest figures show 6,884 personnel in the army, 870 in the naval service,and 724 in the air corps.

The current overall strength is at 8,478 — a figure that includes recruits and officer cadets who are not trained and who cannot technically take part in any serious operations.

PDForra president Mark Keane said unfortunately getting extra days off would put even more pressure on those who remained on duty.