A failure by the Commission on Defence to recommend major solutions to the chronic retention issues in the country's military will only lead to further departures, according to the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (RACO).
Commission members are holding final deliberations on their report before shortly handing it over to the Government.
It is expected to be published at the end of this month or in February.
Even if the report does recommend new retention measures, it will be up to the government to ensure they are introduced. A number of recommendations made in previous reports on the Defence Forces have never been implemented.
RACO, which represents commissioned officers, provided data to the latest commission showing that, at the current turnover rate of 7.5%, if the DF were to induct 700 personnel every year, (currently unattainable because it doesn't have enough instructors) the strength will continue to decline and the organisation will not meet its assigned minimum strength until after 2050.
“With a more realistic induction rate of 600 per annum, the turnover rate must reduce to 5% if we are to reach the minimum designated strength of 9,500 by 2026."
The Defence Forces are currently 1,000 personnel short of their minimum strength.
It is also expected that the commission will have to recommend an increased establishment (maximum allowable headcount) figure for the Defence Forces to meet its assigned roles, making the retention of personnel even more urgent.
“The commission must surely realise that the Defence Forces cannot hope to increase its headcount without reducing its turnover rate. It has been proven over the last five years that we cannot recruit our way out of this retention crisis,” a RACO spokesman said.
“Furthermore, the commission has visited every barracks. We are fully aware that crucial issues such as pension provisions, working time directive, access to overtime and retention initiatives such as service commitment schemes for technical personnel (bomb disposal, engineers, cyber experts, medical officers etc) and specialised instructors allowance have been raised repeatedly with the commission members, and therefore must be reflected in the report if it is to be a truly honest reflection of the staffing crisis experienced by Defence Forces members,” the spokesman added.
PDForra, which represents enlisted personnel, has urged the commission to bring forward recommendations to speed up the Defence Forces internal mechanism for so-called redress of wrongs.
It wants cases to be sent immediately to the Defence Forces Ombudsman if military management delays them for more than 28 days.
PDForra general secretary Gerard Guinan said his association has engaged with military management in recent years on the issue.
“Several issues have arisen with the internal complaints mechanism that have resulted in members feeling disillusioned with the process.
"These difficulties have included delays in administration, perceptions of bias by investigating officers in some instances and incomplete application of remedial measures recommended,” Mr Guinan said.
He said PDForra hopes the commission, despite the vast amount of work it has to do, can address this issue.
Mr Guinan said if concrete suggestions are not made it will result in PDForra again commencing legal actions to vindicate the interests of its members.
“The association believes the Women of Honour documentary has given added impetus to address complaints in an open and transparent manner,” Mr Guinan added.