477 army jobs at risk

477 army jobs at risk

By Paul O?Brien, Political Editor

Thursday, July 05, 2012

Fears are growing for the future of the 477-strong 4th Infantry Battalion at Collins Barracks in Cork amid strong indications the unit is to be disbanded as part of a Defence Forces overhaul.

Senior officers have been advised that members of the battalion will be reallocated or redeployed in the short term to other units at Collins Barracks, home to the Southern Brigade.

However, there are grave concerns for their long-term prospects, according to Defence Force sources.

They also say there is growing discontent within the forces about the manner in which Defence Minister Alan Shatter is proceeding with the wider overhaul.

"The biggest unit in Collins Barracks is the 4th Infantry Battalion, and the plan is to disband that unit," said one source.

"If you take the floods and the heavy snows and all of these natural disasters, the overwhelming response in terms of the military duties and civilian aid involved for the greater Munster area comes from that battalion."

It is understood the move is due to take effect in the autumn.

The decision comes against a backdrop of a budgetary commitment by the Government to reduce the country?s army brigades from three to two.

The Western Brigade is being disbanded, leaving in place the Eastern and Southern Brigades.

However, while that decision had already been announced, the Government had not spelled out the details of the rest of the overhaul.

Each brigade has three infantry battalions, and the overhaul will see these nine battalions reduced to seven. Two battalions in Dublin are likely to be amalgamated, while the 4th Infantry Battalion in Cork is set to be disbanded.

The sources said the disbanding of the battalion would impact on the Southern Brigade, which is responsible for military operations in the south of the country, with an area of responsibility including counties Cork, Carlow, Clare, Kilkenny, Kerry, Laois, Limerick, Tipperary, Wexford, and Waterford.

It also has charge for key strategic sites such as Cork Port, as well as the airports at Cork, Shannon, and Kerry.

The Defence Forces are covered by the Croke Park Agreement, technically meaning no jobs should be lost. The 477 members of the battalion may be reassigned to other units in the barracks, relocated to other barracks, or offered retirement.

However, the sources said the disbanding of the battalion would have consequences in the long-term.

"Those jobs will die on the vine," said one.

Another source criticised Mr Shatter for proceeding with the overhaul outside of the green paper process.

"This process needs to be parked or paused and let it [form] part of the green paper debate."

A green paper is a document published by Government to initiate debate. It in turn leads to a white paper, in which the Government outlines specific proposals.

Mr Shatter is due to publish the green paper on the Defence Forces by the end of this year, but announced the decision to reduce the number of brigades in last December?s budget.

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This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Thursday, July 05, 2012

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