IRISH MILITARY REPRESENTATIVE groups will next week travel to Brussels to meet MEPs and other officials to ask them to campaign for better conditions for Irish Defence Forces members.

PDFORRA, which represents non-commissioned ranks in the army, air corps and navy as well as the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (RACO) will have meetings and a reception for invited guests.

President of PDFORRA Mark Keane said the event will see his group and RACO advocating for the same rights and workplace conditions that soldiers in other European Union member States have.

“The ongoing war in Ukraine and the nature of the security situation across the globe, not least for the Irish peacekeepers in the Middle East shows how much countries need professional military personnel.

“Soldiers, air crew and sailors in other European states should be matched in Ireland. The Government has always, rightfully, been committed to being good citizens of Europe.

“It is time that it is recognised the vital role our members play in the European project and we will be advocating for securing a meaningful future for our members and secure them terms and conditions which are the norm across Europe,” he said.

Lieutenant Colonel Conor King of RACO said it was important to stress to the MEPs and other officials that European law has primacy over Irish law. 

“The purpose of the visit is to host, meet and engage with 10 of our Irish MEPs with the goal of explaining the work of Permanent Defence Forces Representative Associations and the goal of opening important lines of communication.

“Our members see the role of Irish MEPs as being so important in safeguarding the rights of members of the Irish Defence Forces, and it is through open channels of communication that we hope to ensure that our members enjoy the same fundamental rights as any other Irish and European citizen, where these rights do not conflict with the particular requirements associated with military duties,” he said. 

All Irish MEPs have been invited to the event and there will also be representatives from European wide military employee representative groups. 

Esther Lynch, the General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation will also be at the event as will former Government minister Dick Roche who is currently working as a public policy consultant.

Keane added: “We recognise that the outgoing Government has laid foundations but they need to built on.

“There needs to be a commitment to address these ongoing issues and we need to build on it – Ireland has always claimed to be good Europeans and in that the State needs to give its military the same basic rights as other military personnel on the continent.”

RACO and PDFORRA will tell MEPs that there are European laws that they interpret as placing the rights of the workers front and centre even if they are in the armed forces of a country. 

The complication comes in an EU treaty that puts the responsibility for national security in the purview of the individual member states. The EU laws, the groups said, will only be made void if they conflict with national security requirements. 

PDFORRA has had success before the courts in a number of cases which has caused a steady move towards greater representation rights. Both PDFORRA and RACO are currently joined with the European group Euromil which is taking a case to the European Committee of Social Rights regarding pay and conditions. 

Another legal issue the groups wish to address is the fact that a transposing of a European law on working time into Irish law contained exemptions for members of the Irish Defence Forces. 

RACO and PDFORRA will tell MEPs that such behaviour by the Irish State means that the role of European based politicians is more important than ever.