An Cosantóir

| 13 www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE Branch, Ordnance Corp, Medical Corps and the Joint Competition for OF-5 Cyber Development. COMO's Overseas Desk coordinated officer selections for overseas deployments in close coordination with Brigade and Formation G1 staff for UNIFIL 124 and 125 Inf Bns. The selection for smaller overseas missions has also continued during this timeframe. On a daily basis COMO performs a range of routine, but essential, HR functions from maintaining the PDF Officer Gazette, managing substitution claims, receiving and staffing annual appraisals, preparation of promotion sub-files, receiving and staffing routine correspondence and applications for inclusion on officers personnel files, coordinating EOIs for officer appointments and opportunities such as courses abroad and processing officer retirements. 2024 year marked the conclusion of a milestone promotion competition for the Army Reserve (AR), with 27 officers promoted to Captain – the first such competition since 2008. COMO's support of AR promotions reflects the Defence Forces commitment to building leadership capacity across all AR commissioned ranks. EPMO BY COMDT TOM FITZPATRICK The role of the Enlisted Personnel Management Office (EPMO) is to ensure that all Enlisted Personnel of the Defence Forces are served by a highly efficient and transparent management system underpinned by the regulatory frameworks. EPMO works alongside the other J1 functions and is situated within Strategic HR Division in DFHQ. In this stream EPMO works in support of the formation Personnel Cells (G1, N1, and A1) to progress and develop projects at formation level as it pertains to workforce planning. Generally, EPMO has three key pillars: Promotions and Competitions, Overseas Selection and Military Information. Each cell has both Officer and NCO staff which respectively furnish formations and DFHQ / DOD with policy and thematic advice. EPMO has long standing OfficerS and NCO staff who are subject matter experts within their area. OIC EPMO advises D COS (Sp), the Head of Strategic HR (HoSHR) and the Director of Human Resources Branch (DJ1) on matters impacting enlisted members of the Defence Forces. In 2024, EPMO have worked extensively on progressing all service promotion Order of Merit lists across both Junior and Senior NCO ranks, to support the formations and directorates in filling vacancies in support of CAPDEV priorities on foot of the CODF recommendations. In parallel, EPMO engaged formations and directorates to review the current XYZ, in order to shape the promotion competition landscape in 2024/2025. This is an important role as it allows Directorates to shape the essential skillsets within their Corps to meet the operational needs in the future. EPMO have responsibility for the administration and conduct of both Discrete and Limited Promotion Competitions, which were used extensively to select successful candidates for key NCO appointments in the CODF Implementation appointments. The Defence Forces continues to meaningfully contribute to International Peace and Security through our Overseas Deployments. EPMO has responsibility to force generate for our larger scale PSO, and in 2024 EPMO enabled the deployment of the 124 Bn and 125 Bn to UNIFIL. Throughout the deployments EPMO supported the unit in personnel related matters. Currently EPMO, as the year comes to an end, have launched the Senior NCO Promotion Competition across all services which will enable DF wide promotions in 2025. EPMO, in response to challenges at Sgt Rank, have redesigned the Cpl to Sgt promotion system to expedite promotions in 2024 providing unit level and induction HR capacity, in support of strategic HR priorities. A ADMIN BY COMDT SHANE FLOOD The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE) will introduce legislation removing the blanket exclusion of the Defence Forces from the provisions of the EU Working Time Directive (WTD) and the Organisation of Working Time Act (OWTA) 1997. The primary aim of the WTD is the health and safety of workers, recognising that excessive working hours without sufficient breaks can lead to increased occupational risks, health issues and fatigue. Implementation of the WTD will promote a healthy work-life balance and improve working conditions in the Defence Forces. Specific to the Defence Forces there is a requirement to protect serving members while ensuring the contingent capability of the Defence Forces remains. Accordingly, activities will be classed as either in scope or out of scope. For activities deemed in scope, the provisions of the WTD will apply. It was further recognised by all parties that certain specified Defence Forces activities, such as but not limited to Overseas Service, ATCA and ATCP operations and Naval Maritime Defence and Security Operations cannot be brought into the scope of the WTD. These activities will continue outside of the scope of the WTD, with Defence Forces members gaining protections such as codified time off in lieu and improved welfare provisions to ensure their welfare is provided for while engaging in these out of scope activities. A key foundation for the introduction of the WTD will be accurately capturing hours worked. This will be managed initially through the PMS; pilot projects to validate the use of the PMS for this purpose have taken place throughout the Defence Forces in 2024. Concurrently the Defence Forces are working on the procurement of a new system to capture hours worked. This system will be procured and implemented in 2025-2026. This system will automate time management, integrate with the existing PMS, and provide flexible, user-friendly solutions to ensure compliance and efficiency. Comprehensive briefings will take place across the Defence Forces ensuring all members are kept informed as the provisions of the WTD are introduced. FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (FOI) BY COMDT LUKE FOLEY The DF FOI office is responsible for providing relevant records in line with the Freedom of Information Act 2014. 2024 has been a busy year with over 200 requests being processed through the office. Training for frontline decision makers at formation level was conducted throughout the year as well as relevant training for the staff in the FOI office in DFHQ. Information on how to submit an FOI request can be found on the DF website at https://www.military.ie/en/public-information/freedom-of- information/ A log of all non-personal disclosure requests received by the Defence Forces can also be found at this link.

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