Mr. Michael Donnellan:

Rent allowance is one of the allowances that has been part of prison pay for decades, and it has always been seen as part of core pay, which is pensionable. All of the agreements and departmental council documentation going back to 1961 and 1980 talk about this allowance as part of core pay, which is pensionable. In common with the other sectors which have rent allowance, there is a broader issue in regard to how that allowance can be managed. It is clear that maybe that allowance could be brought into core pay in the future.