The Government and the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, came under intense criticism from the soldiers' representative association here yesterday over the hearing compensation issue and pay. In an unprecedented attack on a Minister for Defence, the Permanent Defence Forces Other Ranks' Representative Association (PDFORRA) president, Mr Pat Grogan, described him as egotistical, a "Thatcherite" on financial issues and "incapable" of dealing with the hearing compensation issue. Mr Grogan also hinted that the association was considering industrial action in pursuit of pay claims and because of other grievances.
Industrial action by serving soldiers is illegal, although PDFORRA held a two-week picket of Defence Forces Headquarters in Dublin in July.
The association said the picket was a two-week-long "press conference" that happened to be situated at the gates of the Park Gate Headquarters.
Mr Grogan's speech was unprecedented in the terms in which it referred to the Government, Minister, Department of Defence and military management.
Military sources said the speech reflected strong feelings over the Government's decision to close five barracks and also a growing militancy among soldiers, stirred by the greater pay increases won by gardai as a result of the two-day "Blue Flu" strikes.
In his address to the PDFORRA conference yesterday, Mr Grogan said: "The Minister for Defence has used the hearing damage issue to make political capital on the backs of soldiers.
"He had successfully orchestrated the largely unquestioning media to portray himself as a champion of the taxpayer instead of dealing effectively with an issue which needs a resolution and not the very obvious PR exercise.
"The Department of Defence has used the hearing damage issue to blacken the good name of soldiers in order to introduce the change (barracks closure) which heretofore was unacceptable to the general public. Two separate agendas running in tandem with total disregard for decades of loyal and dedicated service both at home and abroad."
Mr Grogan accused the Dail Public Accounts Committee, which held an inquiry on hearing claims, now totalling 13,538, of "falling uncannily silent" after, he said, PDFORRA had rebutted its criticism of the level of claims.
He also accused the Department of Health of having "tailored and adjusted" official deafness measurements "to deal with individual cases".
Mr Grogan also came closer than any previous soldiers' representative to suggesting industrial action, saying: "Soldiers cannot strike. However, this year, in particular, the loyalty, dedication and devotion to duty have been taken for granted and pushed beyond the point of tolerance.
"If PDFORRA are not treated properly within the (official conciliation and arbitration) scheme, then we will be forced to consider actions which are alien to military thinking."
He also indicated that the association would be seeking overtime payments for soldiers, something that has not yet been the subject of negotiation.
"We look forward to a working relationship where the loyal, dedicated service of our members, and the impact of the change process on families and dependants, outweighs the personal political agenda of an egotistical Minister whose understanding of the military way of life, loyalty to the State and pride in our uniform, is not terribly obvious.
"A Minister with little knowledge of the military way of life, but vast experience as a politician with a Thatcherite approach, is not the ideal choice at a time when our Force is undergoing such significant change and upheaval."
He added: "We must fight in every possible way to preserve the dignity and integrity of the Force because if we don't, future generations of Irish soldiers will look back and say: `At the turn of the century the Defence Forces were destroyed and no one had the courage to stand up and shout `halt'. "