Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses to the meeting. To put this in context, the committee is inquiring into the area of allowances within the public sector. I seek a complete understanding, whereby members and witnesses both learn in terms of the exercise and where members ascertain which allowances comprise core pay and gain a general appreciation of how they have evolved. I am unsure whether the public currently has full detailed knowledge of how the structures of the allowances work and how they have evolved over time. Certainly, when looking through the allowances, many of the lower-end ones make a significant difference in terms of core pay. I had the opportunity to look through the various presentations and reports and found a number of features to be striking. Mr. Howard should explain how approximately 100 allowances came about over the years. There are approximately 65 within the Army itself and a further 35 between the civilian employees and the Civil Service. Mr. Howard should explain how this evolved over time. I note the first allowance in the Army was for the equitation school back in 1922 and I presume it still is in place. Various other allowances have been introduced and Mr. Howard made reference to the years. It strikes me that many public sector allowances appear to be large in number and quite cumbersome. Moreover, many of them have been there for many years and a lot of them constitute core pay. Mr. Howard should provide members with an understanding of how this has evolved. Could some of the allowances be amalgamated? I note Mr. Howard made reference to discussions being under way in that area.

As for enlisted personnel, from 1 January a private now starts on €220.37 per week, which is below the minimum wage. How has that position evolved? Are allowances also built into that rate and what is the basis for it? Another issue I wished to raise concerned allowances and pensions. How many allowances are built in for pension entitlements? I again am attempting to distinguish between core pay and specific allowances. I have two further items I will raise with Mr. Howard. In respect of the level of training within the Army, are the courses undertaken and qualifications gained by Army personnel at FETAC or HETAC level? My understanding regarding people leaving the Army is it takes 21 years before one can get to a point at which one can leave. I seek general information on the type of qualifications gained. On a general note, the representative bodies referred to the level of reorganisation that is taking within the Army. In general, how do they perceive morale to be among Army personnel at present? I invite Mr. Howard to address these points. I seek an understanding of how it came about that effectively, there are 100 allowances within the Department of Defence and the Army. I wish to understand the reason some of the aforementioned allowances were not simply reclassified as core pay.