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Former Army Ranger commander Cathal Berry has said that not a single former member of the Defense Forces has been rehired to join the fight against Covid-19.
Mr Berry, of the Regional Independent Group, said the scheme has failed to attract any members.
I’ve told the Dáil the terms and conditions for re-enlisting were “pretty appalling”, adding that returning members would be fined € 300 if they did not fulfil a three-year contract.
Mr Berry said: “We all voted for legislation here on March 26 and a sizeable chunk of that legislation to do with the Defense Forces and re-listing and re-hiring former members of the Defense Forces.
“Seven weeks later I think it’s reasonable to assume that maybe 40 or 50 or 60 soldiers have been rehired but the reality is not a single has been rehired to date.
“We are not even close.
No interviews have taken place, no medical have taken place, no garda vetting has taken place.
“That’s an issue that we need to focus on.
There’s a number of reasons why no one has been re-hired but the main reason is that terms and conditions are pretty appalling.
“If you are a former solider and are fully trained and you wish to return to the Defense Forces to fight Covid, you will be offered a three-year contract and, incredibly, if you don’t stay the three years you will be fined by the Department of Defense € 300. ”
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told the Dáil that around 500 former troops expressed an interest in rejoining the Defense Forces.
“Those 500 certainly won’t turn into 500 re-enlistments, but if we could re-enlist 100 or 150 people, particularly those with particular skills, that would be really welcome,” Mr Varadkar added.
“We have had some pilots come back and we signed off on that the other day, but we’d like to see people coming back across the Defense Forces and all three services as well.
“I’m very disappointed to hear that a barrier in that might be this issue of terms and conditions which always seems to plague progress in the Defense Forces.”
Meanwhile, Mr Varadkar said he would have “no objection” to using commercial aircraft to get Defense Forces troops home to Ireland.
Mr Berry called for the government to send flights to Beirut to bring Defense Forces troops home.
Mr Varadkar said it is a “real weakness” that Ireland relies on commercial aircraft to bring the State’s troops back describing it as “sub-optimal”.
“I have said to the Chief of Staff that given there are so many plans on the ground at the moment, and perhaps plans are inexpensive at the moment, this might be an opportunity for us to invest in that and and purchase aircraft that would allow us to get our own troops back and forth, ”Mr Varadkar added.
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