The House of Representatives passed the regulations regarding the recruitment, hierarchy, promotions and termination of employment of National Guard NCOs.
All 36 MPs present were in favor of the regulations. The purpose of the regulations is to repeal regulation 46 according to which non-commissioned officers are given the right to apply for a new 3-year employment contract upon reaching their mandatory termination age or 57 years and after the expiry of this to have right to submit a new contract renewal application until the age of 63.
Previously, the Parliament voted into law the bill concerning the amendment of the National Guard Law, in order to provide the Minister of Defense with the authority to establish a Security and Defense Academy for the purpose of training and education in the field of security and defense at national, regional, European and international level. The 31 MPs present were in favor of the bill.
The House also voted into law the bill concerning the amendment of the National Guard Law, in order to abolish its provision according to which the total duration of the contract of a Conscripted Hoplite is limited to ten years, regardless of the age at which he is hired and to enable them to remain in the service until they attain the age of forty-two years. The 29 MPs present were in favor of the bill.
Speaking during the Plenary session on the issue of Non-Commissioned Officers, Defense Committee Chairman Marinos Sizopoulos said that "members of the Committee took on a very serious responsibility to regulate a very important issue that had huge implications in the event that Non-Commissioned Officers were to they retired at the age of 57.
He said that the regulations provide for mandatory retirement at 57 years but at the same time, as he said, if they themselves request it, the Minister of Defense has the possibility to renew three plus three years.
He added that several NCOs built their family prospects on the basis that they would retire at age 63.
Referring to some data, Mr. Sizopoulos said that "it is not possible for officers, graduates of productive schools, up to the rank of Major to retire at 55 and of Lieutenant Colonel at 57 and contracted NCOs at 63, while in relation to the latter given, he said that this is "the obligation to modernize the executive potential of the EF based on new data that is taking shape today".
“For this reason and on the part of the members of the Commission to agree on the issue of their retirement at 57 that there should be a financial satisfaction so that these people are not wronged”, he said and added that finally with the decision of of the Council of Ministers to give an additional lump sum of 34,000 euros for any of them who will retire and that the entire tip be non-taxable is an important incentive. and the pension which starts from the day of retirement, at the age of 57, Mr. Sizopoulos said that everyone must understand that "the lump sum as well as the pension are determined on the basis of the contributions that everyone has made to the Social Insurance Fund" ?.
He also stated that with their retirement they will be able to get an additional amount of 2.1% regarding the contributions they have deposited in the TKA and any obligations they may have in the TKA due to debits to the Fund will be replaced by the 2.1% .
DISY MP Giorgos Karoullas said that "we have succeeded with our unanimity in the Defense Committee and with the cooperation of the Ministry of Defense to equally and rationally include the Contracted Non-Commissioned Officers in the new pension plan» previously voted by the Parliament in relation to the public and wider public sector.
Mr. Karoullas said that as DISY and together with the Commission, “we drew the lines which were the alignment of the age limit of 57 years, like the other non-commissioned officers, the possibility of replacing non-commissioned officers with new SYOP, but also the decent compensation in a time horizon of 2039» and referred to the approval by the Legal Service of the special exit/compensation plan for these non-commissioned officers.
"This solution we have arrived at has zero fiscal cost and is an example to follow of how we should operate in this state", he added.
"We recognize that a number of 80 people, the pension them and their lump sum deviates from the average of the majority of NCOs» and "they are the ones with the fewest months of service but also low contributions to TKA", he said.
Mr. Karoullas said that this category should be examined "with a positive eye if there is any other possibility to reduce this discrepancy always within the framework of the legislation and the budgetary frameworks".
The MP of AKEL Kostas Kostas said that it was in March 2017 that the new regulations for NCOs were submitted, while he added that "if the Minister of Defense wants, he gives 3 plus 3 years".
He also said that the contract NCOs "arranged their jobs, their loans and their children's studies based on" retirement at the age of 63 and added that "the President and the members of the Defense Committee in the last 2 weeks have had very bad days with a lot of pressure and with undermining and with some people who were undermining us".
Mr. Costa also said that the Commission stood and put a lot of pressure on the Ministry of Finance to come up with a plan, which although not the best, is “too good to be able to immediately give some money to these people” and a pension from the first moment and let's see along the way what can be done».
«And this is happening because the head of the EF came and told us that I cannot work with people who will be 60 with 63 years and we need to catch new blood, he added.
He also mentioned that not everyone will retire immediately, but “every year 10-15 people will retire”.
The President of ELAM Christos Christou said that what we will vote for was not what was proposed from the beginning and added that "it is after a lot of effort and pressure that we managed to convince the Ministry of Finance that it should give these people a decent amount for to be able to leave and then live with their family».
"I want to believe that the problems that may arise do not concern all of the SYPs, but a part of these people,", he said and added that these will be examined later and "we will find a way to bring them back if and when necessary so as not to leave them exposed».
The MP of DIPA – Cooperation Alekos Tryfonidis said that "the Parliament today gives the possibility to the head of the EF and the Ministry of Defense to increase and develop the operational readiness of our army" and added that even though they are 57 and 60 years old "too many were filling important positions in our weapons systems".
He mentioned that "we had a hard time (as a Defense Committee) because the Ministry of Finance went to close the cannula" ; and added that with many efforts by all of us, the one-off payment was settled, by decision of the Council of Ministers, plus 34,000 euros and plus 2.1% that will go to TKA.
“We find that for the first ones who will leave until 2025-26, there will be an injustice because 70-80 people leave immediately and get a very small pension”, he said and added that “it will not be a big cost to give something additional”. .
The MP of the Environmental Movement – Citizens' Cooperation Alexandra Attalidou said that “there are 471 female non-commissioned officers for whom one of the most important rights, the right to equality, has been violated by the EF for years, and they have been waiting for so many years and almost every Sunday they are outside the Presidential Palace and demonstrate for their rights».
He said that the report of the Commissioner of Administration is "catalyst and we are waiting when there will actually be a correction for this blatant violation of the rights of these women" and he added that these women did not get the permanence at the right time, they did not get the increments they should and they did not even get the rank they should because they were women.
"The Defense Committee and the Parliament must to persist until the rights of these women are restored, he concluded.
Responding to Mrs. Attalidou, the President of the Defense Committee said that "any difference that exists has no racial origin at all" and added that "there are certain regimes that existed in the EF and need regulation", while noting that the Defense Committee cannot take up the issue, which was transferred for discussion to the Human Rights Committee.
Read also: Pension approved for employees hired after 2011
