Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I submitted a question last year and it took an age for me to receive a response. That response finally arrived in January. I inquired as to how many days over the course of recent years have been surrendered to the State on foot of paragraph 16 of the DFR A11, which limits an annual carry-over to 19 days, regardless of whether members of the Defence Forces can actually avail of their leave entitlement due to tours of duty, leave cancellation and post-tour rest and recuperation. The fact is that in 2015 - the only year for which the Department has so far come back to me with figures - the level of annual leave entitlements denied to Defence Forces personnel came to a wage equivalent to €30 million. I do not see much balance there.

Yesterday, an article in the Irish Examineron the University of Limerick, UL, report referred to poor pay, lack of expertise and exhaustion. Clearly, the denial of the request to roll over annual leave, which the previous reply disgracefully described as "privilege" is a contributory factor. The Minister of State will be discussing the issue with PDFORRA and RACO on Thursday. What will he say to them on this and other issues?

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