PDFORRA, the Army representative association, has welcomed the Government initiative to adopt a "partnership approach" to the restructuring of the Defence Forces.
The general secretary of the association, Mr John Lucey, said the fact that the Government had agreed to include them in discussions on the restructuring of the Defence Forces was a "major breakthrough".
Initial objections by the Department of Defence that the Partnership 2000 approach was not appropriate for a military organisation have been dropped, said Mr Lucey.
However, he said, the issues of a 39-hour week in peacetime, over-time payment and a minimum hourly rate, particularly for time-related allowances, had to be addressed.
He added that the association still had reservations with regard to Partnership 2000 because its members had been consistently excluded by government from having any input into pay talks. But negotiations would continue.
Mr Lucey said the rejection of Partnership 2000 by PDFORRA at a special delegate conference of the association in Cork in May was greatly influenced by its exclusion from pay talks.
PDFORRA said the Defence Forces representative association for enlisted personnel considers it a major breakthrough that there is now acceptance of the objective to achieve joint partnership by the Government, the military authorities and the representative associations; and that the adversarial approach to change be replaced by an open and co-operative process based on consultation and negotiation with a view to reaching agreement.