PDFORRA Conference: Members of the Defence Forces will await the outcome of talks with the Department of Defence before deciding on what form of industrial action to take over plans to shed up to 400 jobs across the Naval Service, Air Corps and Army.
The Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, has indicated he is willing to meet officials from PDFORRA, the Defence Forces staff representative association, to discuss the impact of the job cuts.
The Minister has warned PDFORRA that any industrial action by its members would put it in breach of the Sustaining Progress agreement.
Mr Gerry Rooney, general secretary of PDFORRA, said he was hopeful that talks with the Minister and his officials would negate the need for industrial action.
"If the Minister is willing to discuss some aspects of the cuts, then maybe he is willing to give us some concessions," Mr Rooney said at the association's annual conference in Waterford yesterday.
He said they would seek talks with Mr Smith as soon as possible.
If the outcome proved unsatisfactory, PDFORRA's national executive would consult with its members around the State about the possibility of taking industrial action and what form such action would take.
Yesterday delegates were due to vote on a motion which, if passed, would have instructed the national executive to set out a plan of industrial action.
Instead, delegates voted to leave the decision on such action to the national executive, and until after its negotiations with the Department are complete.
Mr Rooney said the Minister had been described as a "bully" by some delegates at the conference following his address on Wednesday, when he insisted industrial action would be unacceptable.
"We have to face the fact that under sustaining progress, there is a peace and stability clause and that if we even voted to put a plan of industrial action in place, we'd be in breach of that straight away," he said.
The 400 jobs to go across the defence forces include 250 military positions and 150 civilian positions. The cuts are part of the Government's plan to reduce the public sector workforce by 5,000.
Some Defence Force members want to take industrial action over a number of other issues. These include the Government's failure to reinvest savings achieved by reducing the size of the Defence Forces in recent years. Many are unhappy that 700 serving personnel have not been appointed to a specific position, as is traditional.
Any industrial action would be similar to An Garda Síochána's "blue flu" in 1998. However, the action would not be aimed at any services which are vital to the security of the State.
It would be more likely that obstructionist tactics would be used, such as refusing to drive military vehicles or even refusing to fly the Government jet.