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A number of Defence Forces staff are expected to get payments of between €1,000 and €2,000 for loss of earnings after the reallocation of duties carried out by an Army bomb disposal unit in Co Meath.
The details are published in an adjudication on a dispute involving the Permanent Defence Forces Representative Association (PDFORRA) and the Department of Defence.
A reorganisation of the Defence Forces in 2012 led to the consolidation of three under-strength Army brigades into two full strength brigades, a reduction in the number of headquarters and some other personnel changes.
The changes also resulted in the reallocation of the duties carried out at the explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) duty station at Gormanston Camp from Marcy 27th, 2014.
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Unlike four other EOD locations, Gormanston did not have a permanent bomb disposal unit and the staff providing cover were drawn from locations in Cork, Athlone, Cathal Brugha Barracks in Rathmines and the Curragh.
Following a decision by military management, based on the security assessment and requirements at the time, it was decided that the four remaining locations “would be sufficient in meeting the security threat”.
The representative body subsequently wrote to the department claiming compensation for loss of earnings for former EOD personnel based in Athlone who were affected by the changes.
It submitted that the tours of duty in Gormanston had been a regular feature of service within the Ordnance Corps and had “contributed substantially to the family finances of personnel involved”.
‘Considerable loss’
They had suffered “considerable loss” as a result of the reconfiguration of the service, it said.
The organisation said the Croke Park and Haddington Road public service stability agreements provided for payment of compensation for loss of earnings in a context other than redeployment and that there was precedent for this.
The department had claimed that compensation was not payable, as the public service stability agreement had involved commitments to improve efficiencies, including mobility, redeployment and organisational restructuring, without further compensation.
It also submitted that the requirement for fewer EOD teams on standby had followed a “military assessment of demands and was not as a result of reorganisation”.
The department said PDFORRA’s claim that the number of call-outs had gone up was “not supported by the facts”. It said the number of actual EOD call-outs per year had reduced from a high of 250 in 2013 to 100 in 2017.
While there had been a significant increase in the number of call-outs in 2013, this could be accounted for by a programme of call-outs to schools and colleges to dispose of old chemicals.
The matter went to conciliation last December and the parties failed to reach agreement.
An adjudication published in recent days following a hearing in June found the staff concerned should be awarded 1.5 times their actual lost earnings due to the reduced number of explosives ordnance shifts available to them.
Adjudicator Daniel Murphy noted the original claim was in respect of the personnel in Athlone and said he could make a finding only in respect of those personnel.
“I would observe, nevertheless, that it might seem sensible if the parties were to agree to encompass other personnel in the process to obviate the necessity for a further claim in respect of these other personnel. This, however, is a matter for the parties,” he wrote.
Gerard Guinan, general secretary of PDFORRA, welcomed the finding and said it impacted on a relatively small number of individuals. He said the savings per day for each officer as a result of not paying the allowance was €89, with an average of €50 payable to a driver carrying out the EOD duty.