Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 1 Oct 1998

Vol. 494 No. 3

Written Answers - Defence Forces Representation.

Jack Wall

Ceist:

32 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Defence if he will provide a progress report on the work carried out to date by the Secretary General of his Department with regard to instituting a new structure or forum to facilitate partnership between him and representative organisations. [18087/98]

Enda Kenny

Ceist:

118 Mr. Kenny asked the Minister for Defence his approach to consultation within the Defence Forces. [17939/98]

Frances Fitzgerald

Ceist:

172 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Defence his approach to consultation within the Defence Forces. [18121/98]

Minister for Defence (Mr. M. Smith)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 32, 118 and 172 together.

As I stated in my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 12 on 4 June, the representative associations for the Permanent Defence Force, RACO and PDFORRA operate under a conciliation and arbitration scheme. This scheme and its enabling legislation and regulations provide the mechanism through which consultations with the associations are carried out. The C & A scheme also provides a means for both sides to discuss issues which are of importance to them and to arrive at mutually acceptable resolutions.

C & A schemes have traditionally been adversarial in nature and did not lend themselves easily to the management of change. In this regard, discussions with both RACO and PDFORRA on a revised scheme of conciliation and arbitration for members of the permanent defence force are now coming to a conclusion. It is the intention of all parties to arrive at arrangements which will provide a more transparent and realistic system than has been in place hertofore and which, in keeping with modern industrial relations thinking, will place greater emphasis on negotiation rather than adjudication to resolve issues. These arrangements will, of course, have to be consistent with the Defence (Amendment) Act, 1990.

The Partnership 2000 for Inclusion, Employment and Competitiveness advocates building more open, co-operative processes on existing arrangements. The terms of the Partnership 2000 have been offered to both associations and will, I understand shortly go to ballot. The provision of a forum to complement the C & A structure and at which issues such as the implications of the reorganisation of the Defence Forces can be raised is under examination at present. Consideration is also being given to partnership structures for RACO and PDFORRA and I do not want to preempt the outcome of that process. In general however, I believe that employment relationships can be very much improved by an acceptance by both sides that substantial support of each other is necessary to make progress. Both sides must also accept that each has a legitimate role and interest in the organisation. Such steps should lead to higher levels of mutual respect for and trust in each other positions.