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RANK-AND-FILE soldiers have backed a new pay deal by formally accepting the report by the Public Services Pay Commission.
The national executive of PDFORRA ratified the decision this evening.
PDFORRA general secretary Gerald Guinan said the decision was made despite some reservations.
He said: “The Executive do not believe that the recommendations go far enough and many feel that the Government will undoubtedly have to come back with additional increases in order to stem the outflow of personnel from the Defence Forces.
However, despite the reluctance, the Executive firmly believe that ratification was necessary in light of the impending potential adverse impact of BREXIT on the public finances and the prospect of having to secure the recommended restorative measures prior to the commencement of the next National Pay Talks, when Government finances could be much tighter.
Guinan added that PDFORRA will continue to fight for proper increases in duty allowances given the increased workload on members.
Reacting to the news, Minister with responsibility for Defence Paul Kehoe said:
“I am delighted that PDFORRA, which represents thousands of soldiers, sailors and air crew, has accepted the findings of the Independent Pay Commission. This will result in immediate benefits for their members.”
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said in a statement that the package agreed will “make a real difference to salaries for our Defence Forces” and that increases will paid before Christmas.
Among the recommendations include in the pay commission’s report is a 10% increase in Military Service Allowance (MSA), which will see earnings of the majority of permanent Defence Force personnel increase by between €602 and €675 per annum.
The full restoration to pre-Haddington Road levels of the Security Duty Allowance and Patrol Duty Allowance is also agreed.
Soldiers will also see the restoration of the premium rates for certain weekend duties, and the reversal of the 10% cut in the Overseas Allowance.
Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (Raco) have already accepted the offer.
The Permanent Defence Forces has a designated strength of 9,500 but currently there are only 8,653 personnel.
There have been 558 discharges in 2019.
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You love me. You really, really love me…
No!
I love you..
Have to say OU182 that was a mighty fine comment.. Ireland could do with you in the department of tourism!
In fact, (my partner and I were just discussing your movie idea – which is fantastic, just think Tír na n’Óg, Children of Lír, Ireland is stuffed to the gills with fantasy ripe for the cinema, its been huge in recent years) as Ireland was on Peter Jacksons short list of locations when he thought he might not be able to film the Hobbit in New Zealand, we should be promoting the hell out of our landscape to filmakers for fantasy films, hopefully the success of Game of Thrones in the north may tempt a few more directors to take a look around this little island of ours! (There have been a few but sadly they didn’t do so well.. The classical Irish myths and legends would be big hits with audiences all over the world who have embraced them already).
It’s amazing they haven’t been done already.
Peter Jackson would be top choice for me.
Part funding is a great idea.
There’s so much fantasy stuff which could be internationally cast (they don’t all have to be Irish, we just need people who would look & sound Irish). The stories are amazing. Update them to match the current fantasy driven releases & there’s no reason they wouldn’t be hits. The tourism board & the film board could partially fund it with the remaining coming from the studio that makes it
Guillermo del Toro who was supposed to direct The Hobbit, filmed part of Hellboy II in Ireland – (from wikipedia & spoilers ahead for anyone who hasn’t seen it: “Nuada kidnaps his sister and critically wounds Hellboy with his spear. Unable to remove the spear shard, Liz, Abe and Krauss take Hellboy to the location of the Golden Army in The Giants Causeway County Antrim, Northern Ireland. They encounter a Bethmoora goblin, and he brings them before the Angel of Death, who has been awaiting their arrival. ”
It looks amazing on screen & is instantly recognisable. The old Irish tales are fantastic in depth & history & fantasy. A slight modernisation, a decent cast & a director who knows what to do with a good story & there’s huge potential, both in terms of box office revenue & tourism boosts (proven in the past).
Would probably be crucified for this, but if you had the likes of Chris Helmsworth or a beefed up Robert Pattinson playing CuChulain (Michael Fasbender was linked to the role a year ago but nothing happened), that would bring girls in to see it, the fantasy would bring the guys in & the quality of the stories would bring everyone else.
I should do a kickstarter to raise the funds for a proof of concept start.
Can’t beat the Táin for an epic ending – strapped dying to a rock, facing the horde. Mind you, we’d have to change the whole ‘going to war for cows’ thing a bit…
Perhaps sacred cows …. pro life pro choice
I think the funniest comments of the week are happening right now on the “Plane shot over runway into the sea” article
Ohhh we are a funny lot ;)
“THIS IS (!) A CATHOLIC COUNTRY!” lol
Exactly. Gas :)
Where’s my one about taking a shite,a good 1,000 on that baby,haha.not that I care like :-)
And the past few weeks, Christine?
Oh no, he’s kicking off again.
That’s right, Little Jim, you bow down to the Man (or in this case Woman).
That’s what she said last night!
Be nice to eachother and I’m not going to tell ye again.Now behave.
Your bullets cannot harm me.
Wehey!!!!!!!!!
So I take it ya you took on my suggestion from last week Christine, or is it a coincidence? :)
have your say