Mr. P. J. Stone:

First, allowances are divided into either pay allowances or non-pay allowances. Non-pay allowances do not increase with increases in pay, but pay allowances do. Some pay allowances are pensionable, but others are no longer pensionable as a result of a recent decision by the Revenue Commissioners. I will not go into that, because it relates to the issue of plain clothes, detective allowance etc. Detective allowance, for example, is not a pensionable allowance. It is a non-pay allowance, but it is taxable. Normally, allowances which carried an element of taxation became pay allowances for the purposes of pension. The decision on whether allowances are pensionable are a result of Labour Court decisions, not just as a result of the conciliation mechanism available to the Garda Síochána. However, this does not apply to the detective allowance, which though taxable is not pensionable.

How the radio technician allowance became pensionable relates to the case we had to make. The Department of Justice tried to civilianise the radio technician system and we had no difficulty with that. We had a number of people employed and they were going to continue to be employed. However, under the Minister of the day at the time there was an embargo on recruitment. When the advertisement went out originally and the pay levels were presented, they were the same levels payable to members of the Garda, but there were no applicants. Therefore, the allowance was introduced to sweeten the offer for civilians who at the time were probably being paid a lot better in the private sector. That is how that allowance evolved.