merrion street

The Minister with responsibility for Defence, Mr. Paul Kehoe, today published a report on the review of the Conciliation and Arbitration (C&A) scheme for members of the Permanent Defence Force.

The Minister appointed Mr. Gerard Barry earlier this year to conduct a review of the scheme. The scheme which has been in operation since the early 1990’s, provides a formal mechanism for the determination of claims and proposals from the Permanent Defence Force Representative Associations (i.e. RACO for commissioned officers and PDFORRA for enlisted personnel) relating to remuneration and conditions of service of their members.

The Minister said

given the many changes in the area of industrial relations over the past 30 years, I considered it timely and appropriate to undertake a fundamental review of the C&A scheme for members of the Permanent Defence Force, to ensure that the scheme remains fit for purpose.

The Minister thanked Mr. Barry for his report. He said

when I appointed Gerard Barry as the independent reviewer, I did so for his vast expertise and knowledge in the arena of industrial relations. In the course of his review, he corresponded with all parties to the agreement, he compared the scheme against other public service C&A schemes and conducted international comparisons of the representational status of other militaries. This analysis provided the basis for the recommendations in the report.

The Minister said the report has been sent to all parties involved in the scheme. The Minister said

this is just one of a number of initiatives which are being developed to continue to improve HR development in the Defence Forces and follows through on the commitments I have made and delivered upon.

The Minister concluded by saying

the process will move to the next phase which will afford the parties the opportunity to discuss the report.

The Minister has also made the report publicly available in the publications section of the Department of Defence website www.defence.ie