Is The Defence Minister Too Busy to Deal With Crisis in the Defence Forces?

On foot of a PQ response from the Minister for Defence, Aontú Leader & Meath West TD Peadar Tóibín has criticised the Minister for offering no answers as to why the Technical Pay Agreement for members of our Defence Forces has not yet been implemented.

An Teachta Tóibín: “The Technical Pay Agreement concluded in July 2019 by the then-FG government which would have been a small stepping stone towards pay and conditions for our Defence Forces being improved to reflect the service they give to our country. It is September 2021, and that agreement is not yet implemented. It is over two years since a piecemeal €10 million deal to alleviate some of the mistreatment our Defence Forces are subjected to, was agreed to by Fine Gael with the acquiescence of Fianna Fáil – and it remains another empty promise unfulfilled of FF and FG in power. I asked the Minister for the fourth time for ‘the reason the technical pay agreement concluded with the Defence Forces in 2019 has not been implemented to date.’ The Minister declined to answer, couched his answer within a generic, stock answer about civil service pay and then referred to two reports on Technical pay that would not be published. How is that good enough from a Minister who has been Minister for Defence twice at this point? A meagre improvement of remuneration agreed to by FG is now being backed out of – how is this acceptable?”

“I raised with the Minister in the Dáil the record of mistreatment of our Defence Forces by FF and FG in government – he told me to stop speaking negatively about our Defence Forces. When I submitted a PQ to his office at the end of 2020, he offered no comment on why it had not yet been implemented and that it would be considered in the negotiations for the next public service pay agreement. Now in 2021, I put the question twice to the Minister again and I got even less of an answer than I have before. Every time the question is put to the Minister, a lesser response is given. What has the Minister done in his two spells as Defence Minister to improve the lot of our men and women in uniform? It is not good enough just to be a Minister, results are expected – but we wait to see them.”

The Irish political system is radically broken

In Ireland the vast majority of elected representatives put a finger in the air to check which way the political wind is blowing. They have one eye on their leaders – seeking brownie points – and another eye keeping their seat safe. If elected reps shut up and do as they’re told, they are promoted; if they stand up for what they believe in, they are demoted. No wonder we have the political class we have. No wonder one point one billion euro is being buried in a hole under the National Children’s Hospital and that Stormont is in stalemate.

Throughout Ireland, many people are now afraid to say what they feel, many are afraid to respectfully engage on a range of different topics. Many feel there is a new censorship and a new political correctness in Ireland, that opposition to the establishment is being deleted.

Respectful opposition is not the enemy. Respectful opposition is a critical element of a functional democracy. Aontú will have the backbone to stand up, without fear, for you.