This Bill is designed to permit the establishment of representative associations in the Defence Forces. Last July two very significant developments regarding the Defence Forces were announced. One was the establishment of an independent pay commission for the first time ever. The deliberations of the commission, which is chaired by Mr. Dermot Gleeson, senior counsel, are proceeding. The second major development was the announcement that preparations had been initiated for the establishment of a new structure regarding remuneration and related matters for privates, noncommissioned officers and officers. The draft legislation now before the House is the result of the studies and consultations which have taken place over the months since the announcement.
The Bill represents a major development in the history of the Defence Forces. Members of the Defence Forces will, in future, be enabled to elect representatives to associations which will be established for the purpose of giving them a representative voice on pay, allowances, grants, pensions and various other matters. Military personnel will, also for the first time, be given access to conciliation and arbitration. It is important that the new institutions will be put in place, without compromising systems of command and control which are essential in any Defence Force and the Bill provides for the necessary safeguards in that respect.
The main provisions of the Bill, which is essentially an enabling one, are as follows. Section 1 deals with definitions. Section 2 provides for the establishment of associations and the scope of their representation excluding matters such as operations, command and discipline from the scope of such associations. This section also recognises the right of individuals not to be members of an association and provides that the associations will be independent of and will not, without the Minister's consent, be associated with, or affiliated to any trade union or other body. It also provides that members will not join a trade union or body, other than an association established under the Act, which seeks to influence the remuneration or other conditions of service of members of the Defence Forces. This will prevent a proliferation of groups which would be a most undesirable development. The section also empowers the Minister to make regulations to provide for a system of conciliation and arbitration.
Section 3 provides for the suspension of associations during a state of emergency as provided for in section 4 of the Defence Act, 1954. A state of emergency as provided for in that Act relates only to the Defence Forces and is entirely different from a national emergency as provided for in the Constitution. Section 4 of the Bill deals with a situation where the Defence Forces are on active service and section 5 deals with the situation where members are serving overseas.
A person subject to military law is prohibited by section 6 from endeavouring to persuade a member of the Defence Forces to join a trade union or other body — except an association established under section 2. Section 7 deals with the laying of regulations before the Houses of the Oireachtas, while section 8 provides for Short Title, collective citation and commencement. In regard to the latter, the Act will be brought into operation by order of the Minister and different commencement dates may be fixed for different provisions of the Act.
In considering this legislation it is well to keep in mind the fundamental constitutional consideration involved. The constitutional right to form an association is provided for in Article 40.6.1 of the Constitution. It is not, however, an absolute or unqualified right. The same Article provides that laws may be enacted for the regulations and control in the public interest of the exercise of the right — thus explicitly providing for the limitation of the right.
Under Article 15.6.1 of the Constitution the right to raise and maintain military ar armed forces is vested exclusively in the Oireachtas.
The supreme command of the Defence Forces is vested in the President under Article 13.4 and Article 13.5.1 provides that the exercise of the supreme command shall be regulated by law.
The Constitution, therefore, recognises the unique position of the Defence Forces and the manner in which the State may provide by law for their organisation and control.
The organisation of the Defence Forces is specifically provided for in the Ministers and Secretaries Act, 1924, and the Defence Act, 1954. It is but one of a number of functions in relation to the Defence Forces the exercise of which, for fundamental reasons, is controlled and regulated.
In a parliamentary democracy such as ours the armed forces are subject to civil control and the controlled and regulated system of command and authority is fundamental to the raising and maintenance of a Defence Force in our democratic State.
It is also important, however, that members of the Defence Forces should have suitable machinery available to them to give them a representative voice in regard to their pay, allowances and other conditions of service. The matter, therefore, required very careful examination in order to get the balance right. We had to find a way to meet the legitimate wishes of the members of the Forces without compromising the system of command and discipline in the Forces.
There is great diversity in regard to representative bodies in other European countries. A report in March 1988 by the Legal Affairs Committee of the Council of Europe indicates that the number of member states of the Council which permit the members of their armed forces to join associations equals the number of member states which do not. Unlike the majority of other armies in western Europe, the Permanent Defence Force is an entirely volunteer force. It is necessary, therefore, that we should create a system which is best suited to our own situation, a system in which the military personnel themselves will have confidence.
The Bill before the House being an enabling one, the intention is to fill in the detail regarding the actual representative arrangements in consultation with those directly involved. From the very outset I have sought to involve the members themselves in the process of consultation in regard to the new structures. Three teams — one for officers, one for noncommissioned officers and one for privates — were set up for the purpose of making submissions to the Independent Pay Commission and last December I availed of that pre-existing arrangement to address the teams on the question of representative bodies. To continue this process of consultation most effectively, I propose as a first step to proceed with the holding of elections in order to identify representatives of the personnel. These representatives, democratically elected, will be given full opportunity to participate in the drawing up of the new arrangements before the associations are established and before any Defence Force Regulations under the Act are made. In this way we will try to ensure that the arrangements which emerge from the process of consultation will have the confidence of the members of the Permanent Defence Force at all levels. In this connection I propose to use the mechanism in section 8 to postpone the coming into operation of the variou provisions of the Act to allow time for discussion with interested parties.
The first election will be conducted under the general supervision of the principal officer of the Franchise Section of the Department of the Environment. It will also be a matter for him to determine, on the basis of submissions from interested parties, the procedures for the election of representatives and the structures into which they will be elected. In order that the elections can be held as soon as possible the Head of the Franchise Section has already initiated consultations with military personnel.
Once the elected representatives emerge from the election the entire representative system in all its aspects will be discussed fully with them; I have no intention of imposing a structure as this would, in my view, be counter-productive and would not be in anybody's interest. As regards the numbers of associations to be established, there will be separate representation for officers and other ranks. As to whether there will be one or two associations for noncommissioned officers and privates, this depends essentially on what the personnel themselves want. At this stage it would appear that the majority of personnel have a preference for one association for these ranks and this is entirely acceptable to me. When the arrangements have been agreed they will be enshrined in Defence Force Regulations.
As the House will be aware, in broad outline what is envisaged is that the associations will represent members in relation to remuneration — pay, allowances, gratuities, grants and pensions — and other matters to be prescribed by regulations. Their role will also include welfare matters such as credit unions, recreational facilities, medical benefit schemes and family support systems.
Spokespersons for the associations will be permitted to make statements to the news media on matters which fall within their mandate and the associations will be permitted to raise money by subscription, in addition to receiving certain facilities by way of accommodation and staffing from the Department. A system of conciliation and arbitration will be provided.
The Bill and the arrangements I have outlined will, I suggest, provide the framework for the establishment of representative associations which will meet the legitimate needs of members of the Permanent Defence Force while, at the same time, preserving the system of command and control which are essential and must be maintained.
I commend the Bill to the House.