john-connor
October 27th, 2012, 05:49 AM
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/shatter-to-army-let-in-failed-recruits-212202.html Shatter to army: Let in failed recruits
By Paul O’Brien, Political Editor
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Two applicants who failed to meet the minimum height requirement for the Defence Forces are set to be recruited after a direct intervention by Alan Shatter.
It is understood the military leadership counselled against the move, due to concerns for the individuals themselves on health and safety grounds.
One Defence Forces source said that several senior officers were furious at the justice and defence minister’s intervention, regarding it as unwise and counter-productive "micro-management".
Another source suggested Mr Shatter was left with little option due to a mistake on the Defence Forces’ website when the recruitment competition opened.
The minimum height requirement for both men and women is 5ft 2in or the metric equivalent, 157.48cm.
However, when the Defence Forces advertised for 600 recruits in April, its website mistakenly set the metric height at 155cm.
The two applicants involved were below 5ft 2in but, crucially, above 155cm.
According to Mr Shatter’s department, both passed all stages of the recruitment competition and were only informed that they fell below the correct height at the final medical examination.
"The situation of the two individuals was brought to the minister’s attention," the department said.
"Having regard to all the circumstances involved, including the expectations of the candidates having passed all stages, the minister decided as an exceptional measure that they should not be excluded from completing the balance of their medical examination, with a view to their being selected for recruit training.
"There is no intention to reduce the height requirement for enlistment to the permanent Defence Force."
However, one source said Mr Shatter’s decision caused "consternation" within the Defence Forces.
The military leadership counselled against the move, the source added, because of the risk of injury to the individuals involved.
"What should happen in those situations is you should err on the side of the organisation rather than the individual," said the source. "From a health and safety perspective, it runs the risk of injury to that person."
The minimum height requirement is seen as necessary because soldiers have to be capable of carrying a specific load in combat for long periods of time.
"Load-bearing requirements for soldiers, in terms of their personal kit and arms and ammunition and water in operational situations at home and abroad, require that you have to have an upper body strength and a length of back commensurate with carrying an army pack," the source said.
A 2006 report for the department cited a medical study into Irish recruit training injuries which pointed "to a link between injuries sustained in training and the height of the candidate [and the] height-to-weight ratio of the candidate".
However, another Defence Forces source suggested Mr Shatter had little option but to make the exceptions because of the website error. From a legal perspective, the error may have created a "legitimate expectation" on the part of both applicants that they qualified, the source said.
The minimum height requirements are set down in regulations governing the Defence Forces.
By Paul O’Brien, Political Editor
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Two applicants who failed to meet the minimum height requirement for the Defence Forces are set to be recruited after a direct intervention by Alan Shatter.
It is understood the military leadership counselled against the move, due to concerns for the individuals themselves on health and safety grounds.
One Defence Forces source said that several senior officers were furious at the justice and defence minister’s intervention, regarding it as unwise and counter-productive "micro-management".
Another source suggested Mr Shatter was left with little option due to a mistake on the Defence Forces’ website when the recruitment competition opened.
The minimum height requirement for both men and women is 5ft 2in or the metric equivalent, 157.48cm.
However, when the Defence Forces advertised for 600 recruits in April, its website mistakenly set the metric height at 155cm.
The two applicants involved were below 5ft 2in but, crucially, above 155cm.
According to Mr Shatter’s department, both passed all stages of the recruitment competition and were only informed that they fell below the correct height at the final medical examination.
"The situation of the two individuals was brought to the minister’s attention," the department said.
"Having regard to all the circumstances involved, including the expectations of the candidates having passed all stages, the minister decided as an exceptional measure that they should not be excluded from completing the balance of their medical examination, with a view to their being selected for recruit training.
"There is no intention to reduce the height requirement for enlistment to the permanent Defence Force."
However, one source said Mr Shatter’s decision caused "consternation" within the Defence Forces.
The military leadership counselled against the move, the source added, because of the risk of injury to the individuals involved.
"What should happen in those situations is you should err on the side of the organisation rather than the individual," said the source. "From a health and safety perspective, it runs the risk of injury to that person."
The minimum height requirement is seen as necessary because soldiers have to be capable of carrying a specific load in combat for long periods of time.
"Load-bearing requirements for soldiers, in terms of their personal kit and arms and ammunition and water in operational situations at home and abroad, require that you have to have an upper body strength and a length of back commensurate with carrying an army pack," the source said.
A 2006 report for the department cited a medical study into Irish recruit training injuries which pointed "to a link between injuries sustained in training and the height of the candidate [and the] height-to-weight ratio of the candidate".
However, another Defence Forces source suggested Mr Shatter had little option but to make the exceptions because of the website error. From a legal perspective, the error may have created a "legitimate expectation" on the part of both applicants that they qualified, the source said.
The minimum height requirements are set down in regulations governing the Defence Forces.