Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy will be aware that with the agreement of the representative association, the specialised instructors allowance was bought out for officers under the defence sector collective agreement of the Public Service Agreement 2013-2016, also known as the Haddington Road agreement. When the allowance was abolished, 54 affected officers were fully compensated for their loss. While the May 2019 report of the Public Service Pay Commission on recruitment and retention in the Permanent Defence Force made a recommendation regarding allowances in the Defence Forces, it did not make any recommendation on the re-establishment of allowances abolished under the Haddington Road agreement. The commission instead recommended that Defence Forces allowances, which were retained under Haddington Road agreement but reduced above and beyond any reductions made under the financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, have their reductions restored. Given that the specialised instructors allowance was abolished rather than reduced, it was not encompassed by any recommendation of the commission, which did not make any recommendations regarding reinstatement of allowances.

In 2017, the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers, RACO, submitted a claim to the conciliation and arbitration council of the conciliation and arbitration scheme, seeking the reinstatement of the specialised instructors allowance for officers. As the claim was a cost increasing measure under the terms of the pay agreement of the day, the Public Services Stability Agreement 2018-2020, the claim could not be considered at that juncture. The representative association has since reinstated this claim and the matter is currently being processed through the conciliation and arbitration scheme for members of the Permanent Defence Force. As discussions regarding the scheme are confidential between the parties concerned, I am somewhat constrained on commenting further.

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