Trocaire, the Catholic aid agency, has asked the Government to raise the recruitment age to the Defence Forces from 16 to 18. The aim is to set an example in the international campaign against the use of child soldiers in places such as Sierra Leone.
The call came as the Defence Forces were launching their largest media campaign to attract recruits. Some €2.5 million will be spent in the next two years to attract recruits to the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps.
The lower age limit for recruitment has stood at 16 years since the foundation of the State. There has been a drive in recent years to attract younger people and lower the age profile of the Defence Forces.
The launch of the Defence Forces' recruitment programme coincided with Trócaire's launch of its Lenten fast campaign. A major theme of the Trócaire campaign is the promotion of the international campaign by charitable groups against the use of child soldiers.
Trócaire particularly referred to the case of Sierra Leone.
Ms Caoimhe De Barra, Campaigns Officer, said other countries, including Portugal, Switzerland and the Nordic States, had already adopted policies of raising the admission age to their defence forces to 18. The images of child soldiers in Sierra Leone, who were used to commit horrific acts of violence against civilians, had prompted a growing international movement to prevent this abuse.
She said: "If Ireland adopts a policy of recruitment from over 18 years, particularly in respect of operational duties, that lends considerably to the movement which is growing and is already supported by our EU partners.
"We are concerned at the global picture. We are trying to get Ireland to raise standards of acceptability and to set a minimum age that is acceptable to use young people in hostilities. Our view is that Ireland is a country that stands out in terms of its record on human security and peacekeeping. We need to contribute to the international movement that makes the use of children unacceptable."
The UN yesterday introduced an international ban on the use of child soldiers, defined as children under the age of 18. Ireland has not yet ratified this- and Trócaire recommends that the Government, when ratifying the UN Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, should submit a binding declaration setting 18 as the minimum age for voluntary recruitment.
There is no compulsory recruitment in Ireland. A person under the age of 18 years (other than a person who is or has been married) may not be enlisted without the consent of a parent or guardian.
It is Defence Forces' policy that no recruit under the age of 18 should be sent abroad on military service and it is assumed that the length of time spent in training would preclude recruits from involvement in operational duty until they were 18.
Trócaire said: "It is our view that these safeguards need, at a minimum, to be reinforced." An argument advanced by the Department of Defence for the recruitment of under-18s is that of needing to enlist school-leavers before they move into other forms of employment or further education. Ireland does not recruit through conscription and hence feels the competition from other sectors very strongly.
The contract for the Defence Forces €2.5 million campaign was awarded to Cawley Nea Advertising Agency.