Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not have the powers to do that. That accusation has been put to me previously. This only affects people who retire early and are on permanent retirement. If an officer of member of the Defence Forces retires at 50 or 55 years of age and he or she continues to work for ten years, up to the official retirement age, they do not get the supplementary pension. It only affects a small number of officers rather than enlisted personnel. The Deputy would accept that.

The Deputy is right to say that the Defence Forces are different to other areas of the public service. As I stated, it is about both physical and psychological fitness to meet the unique demands placed on members of the Defence Forces. The Deputy mentioned that this is a retention issue. I would encourage the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers, RACO, when it is making submissions to the pay commission, to highlight this issue.

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