Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Gardaí are paid a number of allowances on top of their basic salary, as the Deputy will know. The allowances amount to between 25% and 33% of gross pay and for the most part they have been in existence for a number of years.

I shall give the background to the issue. In September 2012, following the review of public service allowances and premium payments, the Government decided to abolish certain allowances including the rent allowances for all new beneficiaries in the public service. That included the Fire Service, the Irish Prison Service and An Garda Síochána. Obviously the aim of the review was to contain or reduce pay-related costs in the delivery of services. The saving to the Exchequer at that point was €475 million per annum. A business case was presented by An Garda Síochána to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform for retention of the allowances under review, including the rent allowance.

The rent allowance was first provided in 1926. The main reason for the provision of the allowance was to support gardaí who were moved around the country. The costs currently for those members who do get the allowance is €50 million per annum and it is worth over €4,017 per member. As I said, its abolition was one of the actions taken to deal with the economic situation at the time. I appreciate the points made by the Deputy but there are no plans to review the situation at present.