The Department of Defence may seek advice from the Attorney General before making a decision on a controversial Army promotion procedure.

Minister of State Paul Kehoe said the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces had concluded "the promotion competition process was administered in a procedurally unfair manner as, in his view, there was ambiguity in relation to the provisions regarding length of service marks''. He said the ombudsman's recommendations were under active consideration.

Mr Kehoe was replying to Independent Senator Gerard Craughwell, who said a commissioned officer, with "more than 40 years of distinguished service'', had been forced to retire two years early as a lieutenant colonel because of a simple mathematical error.

The case, said Mr Craughwell, related to a competition for promotion in the spring of 2012. The officer in question was placed 11th in the order of merit, with the top nine applicants promoted.

Interview process

As part of the interview process candidates were awarded marks under several headings, one of which was length of service. When the officer sought an analysis he found two of the candidates were erroneously awarded marks to which they were not entitled, said Mr Craughwell. “Had length of service marks been awarded correctly to all applicants, two of those originally placed ahead of the complainant would have been ranked below him and he would have been placed ninth.’’