Irish military officers at war with Department of Defence

Irish military top brass are at war with Department of Defence civil service mandarins, high ranking sources have revealed.

Senior sources have said that relationships between military officers and the Department is now at rock bottom.

Even Minister with Responsibility for Defence Paul Kehoe admits that there are “robust” exchanges between civil service managers and frustrated military top brass.

A senior source said: “This has been building for years but with the current crisis at the heart of the Defence Forces it has hit an absolute low.

“The officers are completely worn out from the lack of understanding and lack of respect for the military that the Department shows on a constant basis.

“It isn’t even Paul Kehoe’s fault - it is just the lack of respect shown by these people. They have no appreciation for the sacrifices of Defence Forces members and they are not listening to the senior officers who are begging for help to save the Defence Forces.

“For instance at the recent PDFORRA conference in Mayo the department sent an Assistant Principal Officer on the first day to monitor proceedings.

“That is the equivalent of a Commandant in the army and is not involved in policy or any other area where decision are made.

“The Minister for Defence is Leo Varadkar but he has delegated that job to a junior minister - that is how much they care.”

Minister Paul Kehoe stayed in Dublin to work on responses to questions for a Dail cross examination on the state of the Defence Forces.

A chink did appear in the press conference given by Chief of Staff Vice Admiral Mark Mellett on the first day of the conference when he called on the Government to show respect to the forces.

In a thinly veiled dig at Department officials he declared: “My job is to try and create an environment where they feel they are valued, where there is reciprocity for their loyalty to the State and I am working hard on that.”

A senior source said: “One of his obligations is to maintain morale in the Defence Forces - it is a critical component of good leadership in military.

“They need to be shown that they are valued and not ignored - Mellett is trying to handle that.”

Minister Kehoe admitted that there were “robust” exchanges in meetings.

He added: “I have senior management meetings on a regular basis and of course there is robust debate on a range of issues. That is acceptable, that is practical.

“There would be something wrong if it wasn’t there - of course the Department of Defence and the military management there has a cordial working environment there.

“Of course there will be robust debate. There is robust debate between the gardai and their department, the same with the HSE and their department.

“Robust where you are able to sit down and have an adult discussion with senior management about issues facing the Defence Forces.”

A senior source said that Mellett and his team are deeply exasperated by the antics of civilian staff inside the Department.

He explained: “The big issue is that the Chief of Staff is not the accounting officer of the Defence Forces. The strings of the puppet are held elsewhere.

“Mark Mellett is a decent, honourable man - he has served as a naval captain on board the LE Eithne. He is an academic and very sharp but his first loyalty is to the men and women of the Defence Forces and to the State.

“He needs to get to the Accounting Officer status because the civilians in the department and indeed the politicians, simply do not get the military or for that matter their desire to serve.

“That comment about loyalty is exactly how the Defence Forces see this - they are carrying out their duty and they deserve loyalty from the State.”

It has been a disastrous number of weeks for logistics in the Defence Forces as diplomatic cock ups, resourcing issues, pay.

Even a lack of sailors have caused ships to stay stranded in port.

The Irish Mirror revealed two weeks ago that the LE Orla was unable to go to sea as it did not have enough sailors.

The resourcing crisis in the Naval Service based at Haulbowline in Co Cork has also hit rock bottom as 66 sailors are forced to sleep in ships.

PDFORRA President Mark Keane revealed that: “They can’t afford to live closer to the base. They are being pushed out further and further. What you’ll see is that these people join up. It is cheaper to rent further out from Cork and they find themselves living out a greater distance.

“People are making sacrifices, to forego family life, to live in the base because they cannot afford it.

It is hard on them. The Naval Service will never be family friendly because of the nature of the job we do. But there can be measures taken that will ensure they get appropriate accommodation on shore.”

The Naval Service has also considered cancelling a 72 hour notice period for members to be called up to sea duty.

Some 119 Irish troops continue to be stranded in Syria and cannot come home because of a diplomatic mistake by Government officials.

The troops, who served in the Golan Heights, Syria for the last six months were due home last Wednesday but that has been blocked.

The Irish Mirror has learned that a paper work mistake means they cannot fly home from Lebanon after officials mistakenly said they were part of the wrong UN mission.

Retention of personnel is at crisis levels as there are now more people leaving for the private sector than there are being recruited.

As Mark Keane, who has worked as a chef on board naval ships said: “Our members did not join the Defence Forces to become millionaires, we joined to serve the State. It is an old-fashioned principal duty and service.

“We have pride in our uniform and everything we do – it does not pay the bills unfortunately. We have asked people to step up to the plate and serve the country in the most difficult of circumstances without any reward for it.

“Our member’s demands do not exceed anyone else. The Government chose to feed four of its children and leave one of them go hungry – that is not fair. We were the child who was left go hungry because we cannot negotiate our pay.”