Soldiers will decide on Monday whether to accept a controversial pay deal or scrap the Government’s carrot to keep troops from walking.
RACO, the body representing officer ranks in the Defence Forces, will hold a ballot this afternoon as members meet for their biennial conference in Naas, Co Kildare.
General Secretary, Conor King, insists the package is just a starting point and it doesn’t go far enough to stem a mass exodus.
Commandant King told the Irish Mirror: “The Department of Defence started the Pay Commission process in 2016 and the report was finally published in July 2019.
“In that period we haemorrhaged over 1,300 people.”
He continued: “It was heralded as this huge suite of measures to retain members.
“Details of the report were leaked in early may which gave people a flavour of what was to come. They flew a kite and it made it’s way around all of the media.
“Even though the reaction was negative, the final report when published in July was unchanged.
“In the month that this report was published, July, nearly 100 people left - 97 to be specific.”
Conor King explained that the deal won’t see an adequate increase in cash in its members’ pockets.
“10% restoration on military service allowance, for a junior private that is 96 cent per day. That does not amount to a significant change in people’s take home pay.
“There are some positives in it. It’s not all bad news, but on its own it is not going to be enough to keep people.
“Approval will not be an acknowledgement that everything is ok. It’s just the start.”
The government’s goal is to restore troops to 9,500.
But instead of increasing manpower, RACO predicts 882 departures for the year ending 2019.
He said: “What we are at now is 8,650 (total number of Defence Forces members). We had 11,500 in 2008.
“At the moment turnover rate yearly is 10.3%
“We are never going to get back to 9,500 with a turnover rate that high.
“The only way we improve this is to give them a reason to stay, a way to feed their families.”
