Calls for bonus payments for overstretched military personnel amid staffing shortages

PDForra president Aaron Kearney said the organisation remains 3,800 personnel below the target set by the commission for 2028.

Loyalty payments should be introduced for military personnel taking on extra responsibilities while serving in units operating at less than 70% of required staffing levels for more than six months, according to a representative body for frontline members of the Defence Forces.

PDForra president Aaron Kearney said the bonuses would help improve retention within the Defence Forces and could also act as a recruitment incentive.

“Our members have been calling for equitable treatment for years on the issue of their remuneration. It’s a simple fact that many of our members are having to carry out the roles of two or in some cases three personnel due to personnel shortages,” Mr Kearney said.

He said “extraordinary measures” such as loyalty payments were necessary and noted they would not be unprecedented within the Defence Forces, pointing to payments previously introduced to tackle a growing shortage of Air Corps pilots.

“We're not in an organisation where ‘no I can’t’ or ‘no I won’t do what I’m told’ is accepted or tolerated. But the fact is our members are continuing to produce the outputs of a larger force at considerable costs to their wellbeing and morale more generally,” Mr Kearney said.

He added that measures such as the pilot retention scheme, along with similar retention payments introduced by the British armed forces, had proven effective.

“A significant number of units across the Defence Forces have major shortfalls, from artillery to ordnance and signals to infantry all have been affected by the manpower shortage. While most people have heard of the shortages in the Naval Service and Air Corps in terms of technicians, many other units have real difficulties in filling vacancies,” Mr Kearney said.

He said that while recruitment numbers have increased, the rise remains modest and is “only a drop in the ocean” given that there are approximately 2,000 vacancies and training capacity for just over 800 recruits annually. 

He said this only roughly matches the number of personnel leaving the organisation each year.

Mr Kearney said the staffing crisis is continuing despite Defence Forces plans to expand under the recommendations of the Commission on the Defence Forces.

He said the organisation remains 3,800 personnel below the target set by the commission for 2028.

“We need to stem the outflow from all units, but at a faster pace in those units where it takes significant time to train personnel up to speed. The lack of retention measures is impacting on operational capacity and is harmful at a time when security is the order of the day. Our Association is hopeful that the Department of Defence can be allowed scope by DPERS to introduce bespoke measures similar to those I’ve referenced before it’s too late and we don’t have the corporate knowledge left to fulfil certain roles,” Mr Kearney said.