Mr. David Cooney:

No, an officer gets the local post allowance when he or she goes abroad, and it is to compensate for the additional costs of living abroad. It is not a significant figure. It is affected by the changes in salaries here. When salaries decrease here, the allowances decrease too. The cost of living element is applied to a combination of the allowance and salary to try to ensure the officer enjoys the same standard of living abroad as at home. In countries where the cost of living is higher than in Ireland, this allowance is given to bring the income up to an equivalent level. That allowance is calculated on the basis of research done by an independent international company in the same way as most foreign services in Europe and North America do. That cost of living allowance exists simply to compensate for a higher cost of living in some countries abroad. It is not meant to bring any additional remunerative benefit to the officer concerned.