PDForra general secretary Gerard Guinan confirmed the number of successful applicants his association had represented to date on the WTD claims. File picture
More than 1,600 enlisted members of the Defence Forces have won compensation for alleged breaches of the Working Time Directive (WTD), but the association representing them believes more cases can be taken.
The settled cases, some of which go back as far as 2014, were fought by the representative association, PDForra, which is urging personnel who have not yet claimed to contact them before the June 16 deadline for applications.
In total, 1,636 personnel have already received monetary compensation from the Department of Defence for the alleged breaches and many will also get time-in-lieu owed to them.
The exact total payout to personnel has not been made public because the mediation process which decided them is confidential.
It is understood the largest cohort to have won compensation served as armed personnel guarding high security prisoners at Portlaoise jail. Many of them worked excessively long hours.
Others include Naval Service coxwains who are responsible for navigation and steering of ships. Again, many worked excessive hours on patrols, and did not get the time off they were owed for this.
Members of the army’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal, commonly known as the ‘bomb disposal’ section also feature.
Years of understaffing meant they had to plug gaps in shifts but were not properly recompensed for the additional hours worked.
In addition, claims were also successful for members of the 106th and 108th Infantry Battalions who served with the peacekeeping UN force in Lebanon as they lost out on leave.
The WTD, which sets out the maximum number of hours that an employee should work, is now in force across the military, with some exceptions. It was signed-off last month in one of the last tasks Taoiseach Micheál Martin undertook in his position as Minister for Defence.
It followed several years of battles mounted by both PDForra and RACO (the officers’ association) to get the legislation introduced as it had been in many other European countries.
PDForra general secretary Gerard Guinan confirmed the number of successful applicants his association had represented to date on the WTD claims.
“I believe there are still a considerable number of personnel out there who have yet to lodge a claim and we’re advising them that the cut-off date for receipt of an application is June 16,” Mr Guinan said.