Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I was pleased to attend the PDFORRA conference yesterday in Cavan. We had a good exchange and a good discussion. They acknowledged a lot of progress in the past 15 months and I appreciate the Deputy has as well in respect of a range of issues, not only pay and allowances but the progress we have made on the working time directive, the retirement age, etc.

We have made further progress here. I hear what the Deputy has to say on the anomaly in respect of captains. The Deputy calls it an "archaic regulation". I will examine that. The framework that has evolved over the years can be quite complex but we need to be careful when we change that we do not have unintended consequences either. Given the pay structure within the Defence Forces, allowances are important as well. We have substantially increased the starting pay but the structure of the military is such that, say, from the initial years, members are depending on promotion and various allowances to top up the pay. That is a structural historic issue and that is why the allowances are important.

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