Mark Keane, president of defence forces rep group PDFORRA.
The president of PDFORRA, the representative group for Defence Forces Personnel, has said their annual conference would be a “silent disco” if proposed laws preventing military personnel from speaking out against Government policy is introduced.
The Defence (Amendment) Bill 2023 proposes that members of the permanent Defence Forces cannot make public comment in relation to Government policy without authorisation from their commanding officer.
The proposed legislative change is among several topics being discussed by PDFORRA, which represents some 6,500 enlisted military personnel, at their annual conference in Cavan this week.
PDFORRA President Mark Keane has said that the section on public commentary has been "watered down” from its previous wording but would still have an impact on its members to express their concerns.
"Our fear is that we go into the conference – it's an open and frank debate, we've the department and military management in the room and it takes a lot of courage for people to stand up there and highlight their concerns.
"If we're now going to ask: 'could we be penalised under military law even further?' we may as well have a silent disco in there. You can't criticise government policy....if [the Government] do something that reflects badly on us or undermines our pay and conditions, of course we're going to have to stand up and say we're not happy about it.
"If they take away that fundamental right, sure we're at nothing. All we want is a voice, we want to be heard."
Mr Keane said he hopes that a new High Court ruling would act as a catalyst for change in relation to the rights of Defence Force members.
The High Court on Tuesday found that a previous order by management preventing military personnel from attending a protest in a civilian capacity was unconstitutional.
It related to an event in September 2018 about the conditions of service of members of the Defence Forces which was organised by wives and partners of serving members and also attended by retired personnel.
Sergeant Martin Bright, then on secondment as PDFORRA deputy general secretary, decided not to attend the event in a private capacity on foot of the order but subsequently took a High Court challenge against it.
While acknowledging the "good faith and sincerely held convictions on both sides", Mr Justice Mark Sanfey found that the order breached Sergeant Bright's constitutional right.
PDFORRA president Mark Keane described the judgement as "historic", adding that it is a right that should be afforded to every member.
"We understand the constraints of military life and military law, we took an oath of allegiance and accept all of that, we're not talking about strike or public agitation.
"We're talking about the right to highlight our concerns; pay and conditions, terms of service, what happens in our communities," Mr Keane said.
More than 100 delegates representing personnel from over 40 Districts across the Army, Naval Service and Irish Air Corps, will debate 53 motions.
The main issues being discussed will be the proposed Defence Bill, the delayed implementation of the European Working Time directive, the provision of minimum levels of medical care for personnel going to sea, and calls for the proper payment of personnel assigned to the EU Battlegroup.