John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Allowances paid to members of the Defence Forces are significantly less than those paid to members of other bodies such as customs officers and sea-fisheries patrol officers. On many occasions they are on the same operations and in the same ships, yet there is no parity. What people in the Defence Forces are seeking is parity across the board to ensure that issue is addressed.

With regard to the other schemes, only 30% of members are eligible for the commitment scheme. The Minister mentioned a figure of 106. More people want to avail of that but they are precluded from doing so because of the restrictions that have been put in place. That has seriously undermined the credibility of the scheme. That must be addressed. There is also the issue of taxation. Members of the Defence Forces are taxed in respect of many of these allowances whereas other members of the public sector are not. Again, all that people are seeking is parity. These are issues that have been highlighted time and again, but there must be action on them.

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