Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Why did the Department of Defence oppose the military service allowance for the 96th cadet class, which was involved in the HSE contact tracing programme? It is only through arbitration and an adjudicator ruling that the cadets were awarded €800, as was strongly endorsed by the general staff of the Defence Forces. These cadets were employed in the same way as fully trained personnel while on these vital Covid duties and the same cadets are some of the lowest paid members of the Defence Forces. What possible justification could there have been to oppose this allowance during a pandemic, when these cadets carried out extraordinary additional duties and their cadetships were suspended?

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