An Air Corps pilot during a wildfire operation. Irish Defence Forces
Armed above Dublin
The details were revealed today at the annual delegate conference of the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (RACO) in Trim, Co Meath.
Niall O'Connor Reporting from Trim.
AIR CORPS PILOTS are flying urgent air ambulance missions to save the lives of prenatal babies, armed anti-drone missions above Dublin, and aerial fire fighting, but the officers leading the operations are not being paid adequately, military officers have said.
Irish Air Corps officers who pilot helicopters and other aircraft during the EU Presidency mission have spoken about the issue of a refusal to pay them allowances while the aircrew they lead still get an additional payment for the work they do.
The details were revealed today during a debate for a motion on the topic at the annual delegate conference of the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (RACO) in Trim, Co Meath.
Captain David Sutton, who flies armed counter-drone operations on board a helicopter, has outlined how the missions unfold.
He said that the commander of the helicopter, who is tasked with ordering a gunner to shoot down unmanned aerial systems (UAS) above Dublin and other locations, does not get the same entitlements.
The issue is around a special allowance that junior officers and aircrew get for their work but senior commanders do not. The extra pay is not paid to senior ranks starting from Commandant in the Army or Air Corps, or Lieutenant Commander in the Navy, and upwards to Colonel or Commander – they are the officers that lead operations. It is known as Security Duty Allowance.
Following successful previous claims by RACO the allowance is paid to Senior Officers performing missions with the National Ambulance Service and An Garda Síochána but not paid for any other type of helicopters or aircraft. This includes the extensive military security operations for the EU Presidency.
Operation Fianna
Operation Fianna is the military’s part of the security mission at the EU Presidency.
“I was just taking a look back at my own logbook. So far on Operation Fianna, I’ve flown 21 hours across five different days of operations.
“Every single one of those flights that I’ve been on has been on counter UAS patrol, and that’s a new capability ever stood up this year from scratch.
“On every single one of the flights, the aircraft commander sitting next to me, was a senior officer. The person who would actually look for permission or give permission to the crewman in the back to engage any UAS that were spotted would not be in receipt of the same allowance of the other three crew members on board,” he said.
Sutton said that the issue is caused as there are no young officers qualified to command the aircraft.
He said that the counter-drone missions consist of two or three helicopters on patrol. They have been above locations such as the Irish Sea and in Cork during the high-level meetings.
The patrols were stood up after the drone incident during the visit of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which four military-style drones flew above a naval ship.
Sutton said without those commanders, the Irish Defence Forces would not be able to carry out the role.
He said that there are other operations that also need the more senior officers, but again the allowance is not paid.
The issue is further compounded by the fact that an agreement did give commanders on ambulance service air ambulance missions the allowance but not on a variety of operations such as searches, firefighting, maritime patrols and the EU Presidency activities.
It is understood that behind the scenes officials have classified the HSE air ambulance as life-saving but not the other operations.
RACO argues the Commission on the Defence Forces in 2022 called for the removal of all “free labour” associated with the Defence Forces which is fully accepted by the government.
“Aerial firefighting was a big one this year, which took place across a couple of weeks, I think we dropped half a million litres of water.
“That was a life-saving mission, as well as protecting property and livestock in the area,” he said.
Sutton explained that those operations needed a senior officer to command the helicopter, but they did not get paid the allowance.
It gets even more complicated, he said, as there was a recent hospital transfer flight for two gravely ill neonatal babies in which the commander was not paid.
‘Operational necessity’
Captain Stephen Shannon of the Irish Air Corps flies the Airbus 295 maritime surveillance and cargo aircraft. He has flown to Beirut on resupply operations and patrolled the atlantic and Irish Sea monitoring shipping. Again, senior officers commanding the mission do not get the allowance.
He said that the use of senior officers on these missions is an “operational necessity”.
Lieutenant Commander Kieran Breen commands the Irish naval ship the LÉ James Joyce. He said that the recent EU Presidency missions he was working on showed the importance of the input of those senior officers.
“It’s a bit of a disgrace that they’re not being paid. At all hours I was on the phone to them in the wee hours of the morning. So it really is important that I think these people get recognised for the hard work that they put in,” he added.
Lieutenant Colonel Martin Ryan, President of RACO, said that the issue is causing a significant problem across the Defence Forces and shows a lack of “respect” for leaders in the Defence Forces.
“It’s very clear that we have a lot of anger, a lot of frustration in the room with regard to the non-payment,” he said.
“Our minister, our department, and our military leadership are all aware that these are the people they depend on to plan, execute, and lead critical operations such as Operation Fianna.”
The delegates passed the motion with a unanimous vote.