Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I apologise for being late, I was stuck in the Dáil. On Army pensions, I do not believe that anybody has a problem with it. I wonder if an actuarial review has been done, given that all of us - as a nation - are living longer. Obviously, ,any pensioners who retired from the Army are, like the rest of us, living longer. Is this taken into account for the future? As with everywhere else, the age to which we live we live is being extended greatly. The Minister of State said that he would come back here next year with an increase. Will those factors be taken into account? It is difficult to predict the amount of money that will be needed for pensions. The figure of €11 million is high, but it is understandable in some ways.

With regard to the Supplementary Estimate, like the other Deputies, I welcome the great work being done by the Naval Service, especially in the Mediterranean Sea, with that number of vessels. Is there any possibility of the fourth ship being delivered early? The Minister of State also spoke about some money being saved - and I am sorry if I misheard him - so that this supplementary sum is only a small figure. He said there was a shifting around of moneys within various subheads and that one of these involved a major saving in respect of civilian pay. Could the Minister of State provide details on how that has been achieved? Some €28 million was required to be saved and €23 million was saved in the area of civilian pay. I may have heard wrong, but it seems to be a big sum. Is there a better breakdown of those types of savings?