THE Chief of Staff has rejected claims that members of the Defence Forces will be forced to leave their jobs as a result of plans to reduce the size of the Army.
Senior management has been concerned about claims of low morale. The fact that an offer of voluntary early redundancy was massively oversubscribed added to concern about morale.
In an open letter to the Defence Forces, Lieut Gen Gerry McMahon, reminded soldiers there were no plans to change employment policy for personnel recruited before 1994.
Responding to claims made by the soldiers' representatives at the weekend that there could be enforced redundancy, Lieut Gen McMahon said: "No general reduction in this maximum retirement age is proposed for personnel recruited prior to 1994."
He assured the representatives that regulations "will not be used in the future as a means of discharging soldiers who have given good and loyal service to the Defence Forces".
Lieut Gen McMahon said a claim by the soldiers' representative association, PDFORRA, that unfit soldiers would be "targeted" for early retirement was "wrong".
He added: "However, it would be equally wrong and absurd to give an assurance that no medical boards will be constituted in the future and that personnel who are currently Grade C [the medical category in which personnel are defined as unfit for soldiering] could never be downgraded."
The Chief of Staff said new arrangements concerning the reduction of the Defence Forces were not "cast in stone" and personnel with questions or concerns could consult Command Advisory Teams.