The Air Corps policy of only recruiting pilots from the officer ranks has been criticised at the annual conference of the non-commissioned military ranks in Tralee, Co Kerry. The Permanent Defence Forces Other Ranks Representative Association (PDFORRA) urged the military authorities to follow the practice of other defence forces and recruit pilots from non-commissioned officer (NCO) ranks, particularly sergeant.
The PDFORRA annual conference heard yesterday that the proposal that NCOs be allowed to serve as pilots was made in 1992 in the Gleeson Report on the Defence Forces, but never implemented.
The report pointed out that this would overcome the perennial shortage of pilots caused by officers leaving to take up better-paid jobs with private airlines.
Earlier this year the Government gave a £10,000 bonus to officer pilots while they serve out their contracts with the Air Corps.
NCOs work mainly as ground technicians and non-pilot air crew.
NCO air crews working on the marine search-and-rescue helicopters receive a flying allowance of £28.30 a week on top of their pay, according to Air Corps figures.
There are some 90 pilots in the Air Corps, all officers. Only a small number are qualified to fly the Corps' most advanced aircraft like the Government jet, Dauphin helicopters and CASA marine surveillance aircraft.
The PDFORRA deputy general secretary, Mr Gerry Rooney, said at the conference yesterday: "The enforced retention of commissioned officer pilots who want to leave service has been a contentious issue for a number of years. The training of NCO pilots would help solve this."
He pointed out that during the second World War there were more than 50 NCO pilots in the Air Corps and that other European defence forces use NCO pilots.
The conference also heard complaints about allowances for service in the Naval Service. One delegate said the allowance for working at sea on a Sunday for a seaman, the equivalent of a private in the Army, was £12.
The PDFORRA general secretary, Mr John Lucey, called on the Government to implement promises on improving conditions of service and payment made in the Fianna Fail election manifesto document on the Defence Forces.
The association's call earlier this week for a review of working hours in the Defence Forces was backed by the Fine Gael spokeswoman on defence, Ms Frances Fitzgerald, who attended yesterday's session of the conference.
She called on the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, to review the Government policy of exempting the Defence Forces from the working time legislation which restricts the amount of time any employee can work in a week.