However, it will now be up to Tánaiste Micheál Martin, who has taken over the Defence portfolio, to see if it’s achievable. But without retention of experienced personnel to train the new bloods, the recruitment plan could be doomed from the start.

The Defence Forces should currently have a minimum strength of 9,500 but is about to dip below 8,000 personnel. The government has agreed with military experts that the actual minimum should ideally be 11,500 to properly defend the country and its interests, meaning there is a shortfall of 3,500. It seems an almost impossible gap to fill in the next few years, especially without a robust retention policy.

Decreasing numbers

There would need to be a significant 'tidal shift' to achieve this, because numbers continue to fall year-on-year. Sources within the Naval Service, which is being hardest hit, have said that, if anything, the number of personnel leaving is speeding up.

Like his predecessor, Mr Martin represents the Cork South Central constituency in which the navy’s headquarters at Haulbowline lies. If he doesn’t know already, he will soon become acutely aware of how much difficulty the Defence Forces are in, particularly the sea-going branch. Many naval personnel also live in his constituency - which may help to focus his attention.

The Naval Service should have a minimum of 1,094 sailors but the figure is heading towards the 770s. The navy is especially short of some technical experts, without whom patrols can’t be conducted.

For example, it has so few Engine Room Artificers (ERAs) – who need to be onboard to keep the engines running – there are genuine fears more ships will have to be tied up, and there could be problems crewing the two second-hand patrols vessels purchased from New Zealand when they arrive later this year. The ERAs are enlisted personnel. The Naval Service is also critically short of Marine Engineering Officers.

Army strength has dropped to just over 6,500, which is 1,000 less than it should be, and it's struggling badly to maintain operational commitments at home and fill overseas units. The Air Corps is down to 715, when it should have a minimum of 886. Again, it is short of technical experts, resulting in private companies conducting maintenance on the Air Corps aircraft at great expense..

Before the Cabinet reshuffle Mr Coveney acknowledged there are “huge challenges” in terms of turnover rates. To address this, the Department of Defence is appointing a ‘Head of Transformation’ on a reported €151,000 yearly salary. This Head of Transformation will form part of a team to implement measures to make the Defence Forces a more attractive career choice.

New equipment, better accommodation and training facilities are planned as more money will be pumped into the defence budget in the next five years, bringing it up to €1.5 billion a year by 2028. 

But this will be of little use if there aren’t the personnel to operate the equipment, live in the accommodation or use the training facilities. The question is will Mr Martin breathe new life into the Defence Forces? 

Many military observers, mainly retired members who have served under various governments, have told the Irish Examiner that in their opinion Fianna Fáil has traditionally shown more interest in looking after the Defence Forces than Fine Gael. This is somewhat ironic considering that Fine Gaelers worship General Michael Collins – the first Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces.

Regardless, the new Defence incumbent will have his work cut out for him.

RACO, which represents some 1,200 officers, predicted back in 2019 that even if the Defence Forces was able to recruit and train 700 personnel a year, it wouldn’t keep pace with the number of those leaving voluntarily and those forced to retire on age grounds. The chickens have come home to roost as the association’s prediction was more or less accurate.

“The current turnover rate of 11.7%, and the current strength of below 8,000 are unfortunately sure signs that our people have lost faith,” RACO General Secretary Lieutenant Colonel Conor King said at the association’s recent annual conference. “The focus on recruitment over retention combined with diminishing rewards for those who do stay continues to be the source of the problem, and one that continues to be ignored.” 

New training facility

RACO has estimated that with current trends, even if the Defence Forces is able to train 700 new personnel every year – and none leave during training or soon after, which is becoming an increasing problem – their strength will continue to slowly decline, and the Defence Forces would not meet its former minimum establishment of 9,500 until after the year 2050.

There are plans for a new training centre, as outlined by Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Sean Clancy. The Defence Forces' most senior officer said Gormanstown Camp is under detailed consideration as the site for a new permanent establishment of a Joint Induction Training Centre (JITC).

Lt Gen. Clancy said it’s “intended to deliver increased recruitment and streamlined induction training in a fully resourced facility of appropriate capacity, whilst achieving optimum efficiency and value.” 

He said they will initially “adopt a hybrid model” whereby existing training establishments and units will continue to conduct induction training along with the JITC and it’s hoped to train up to 900 recruits per year once all infrastructure and staffing is fully complete.

“It's envisaged that eventually, the JITC will have an instructor staff of 83 personnel, plus a support staff potentially reaching 120 civilian and military. As part of the 53 additional appointments requested from DPER, both the Officer Commanding and Chief Instructor of the JITC are included as a priority,” Lt Gen. Clancy said.

Retention problems

Up to the third quarter of 2022 there were 735 personnel who left the Defence Forces, some through mandatory retirement but more to seek employment elsewhere. So, even if the powers-that-be make the magical 700 recruits every year they still won’t be enough to steady the ship.

RACO has constantly repeated that a “fit for purpose” Defence Forces will only result when the organisation is adequately resourced both with personnel and a budget not only to recruit and train but more importantly retain experienced skill sets across the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps.

The army has just 61% of the captains it needs and there are nearly 900 non-commissioned officer (NCO) vacancies. These are the personnel who would be expected to take the lead in the induction training outlined above.

President of PDForra Mark Keane, whose association represents 6,500 enlisted personnel, said they have 686 vacancies at private and equivalent level, 431 at corporal and another 411 vacancies at sergeant, in addition to other vacancies at SNCO level - over 1,500 across all formations.

“PDForra believes that it’s going to be a mammoth undertaking to turn the circumstances of the Defence Forces around, as all these vacancies represent additional work for those that remain while pending inflow.

"PDForra believes that they should also represent opportunities to progress through the ranks for people. Presently, they represent unfulfilled aspiration for a better Defence Forces, and while PDForra hopes that citizens are willing to take up the challenge and sign up, there is no doubt that it will be extremely challenging to fill the gaps in the short term,” Mr Keane said.

This last year has seen his association secure increases in service limits, which gives personnel more options for their futures. 

"We hope to solidify these this year, thus giving people greater security of tenure. In order to stabilise the Defence Forces it’s our belief that a clear communication of the strategy for implementation of the Commission on the Defence Forces recommendations needs to be undertaken. 

"This is, from our perspective, a marathon not a sprint, although there is a clear need to make more solid early gains, like we have a achieved with the grant of Associate status to ICTU. The introduction of long service increments for all ranks needs to be undertaken rapidly, as the figures above show,” he said.

Mr Keane said a further measure that must be considered is the need to address the flaws in the Technician Review 2-6, which say increases in technician pay are needed for many members.

“However, it's also given rise to a moral hazard where people with significant responsibilities who were in receipt of Tech 6 remain on that ledge while others have moved up and have less responsibilities. If not addressed this will result in some personnel not taking on responsibility for signing out aircraft or departing the organisation arising from belief that they are undervalued. 

"We don’t want this to happen. The Defence Forces offer a multiple of opportunities from trades to travel and experiences that cannot be paid for. We in PDForra just need more co-operation from the Department to get some measure in place to stabilise the platform and build from there,” Mr Keane said.

He added that failure to pay people properly is fuelling the exodus of personnel and gaps are being plugged by some outsourcing, which is costing the taxpayer many multiples of what retaining personnel would incur.

Threats to the State

Coveney acted as both Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence at the same time, as Martin will also do. Many Defence Forces members believe, in the current uncertain geo-political climate, that taking on both roles is too much for any one person and will lead to a diminished response to the country’s defence. They want what they had some years ago, a full-time minister with sole responsibility for defence.

The threats Ireland faces today are different from the past, but potentially no less devastating. It's unlikely this country will be invaded by paratroopers or troops storming across a beach; however, the (re-)emergence of subversive political and criminal elements within the State cannot be ruled out, indeed there are historical precedents.

The risks to Ireland’s infrastructure from state-sponsored cyber threats and physical disruption, most notably of undersea cables, cannot be ruled out. Such hybrid threats already pose a threat to our economy and are only likely to increase in the future.

Although the cyberattack on the HSE in 2021 was a wake-up call, more needs to be done. Foreign multi-nationals may decide that Ireland is not secure/safe enough and relocate elsewhere, costing thousands of jobs. An exodus of such companies might be the wake-up call the government needs, but it might also be too late.

Working Time Directive

Compounding these issues is a failure to properly apply the EU’s Working Time Directive to the Defence Forces. The government is currently exploring exempting many Defence Forces activities, denying personnel the legal rights of protection that other European military forces have successfully implemented under the Working Time Directive.

The Department of Defence have proposed several exemptions – 13 if sources are right – that essentially negate the potential retention and health and safety benefits of the Working Time Directive, and will effectively mean personnel will continue to work 60- and 70-hour weeks to keep the show on the road – and without overtime or guaranteed compensatory time off.

Days-in-lieu are extremely hard to get. 

And why wouldn’t the government try and flog the always willing, because it hasn’t the personnel required to carry out the huge output expected at home and abroad by the Defence Forces and is saving itself an absolute fortune on wages every year. These savings are being pumped into new equipment and long-overdue upgrades of military installations.

It's on the backs of the men and women doing the extra work that this is being achieved. But excessive hours, double- or triple-jobbing, and being required to do more with less is leading to burnout and causing the most experienced personnel to leave for far better pay and conditions in both the public and private sector, where they're better appreciated and rewarded for their work ethic.

The irony is that these are among the best trained people in the country who if given a job will turn up and do it, at all hours, without fail. This is down to the training, discipline and values bred into them in the Defence Forces and that is why private companies value them so much.

Weakest link

The more 'old heads' who leave, the less experienced and effective our military is becoming on a daily basis. In a time of world turmoil can we afford to let the slide continue? The Defence Forces Reserve is so depleted it can't plug the gaps either.

At this stage, to quote Independent TD and former Army Ranger Cathal Berry, we are the weakest link in Europe - over to you Mr Martin, as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence, to explain this to our European counterparts.

Hopefully you can dig them out of the predicament they’re currently in.