Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)

Will the Taoiseach withdraw the very cruel cut that has been imposed on Defence Forces reservists? Up until September, they were not paid a large amount; it was €92 per day for the vast majority of working operations in which they were involved. However, from September of this year, this was withdrawn. It makes no sense. It comes in a context whereby there is a target of increasing the number of reservists to about 4,000, given there are less than 2,000 currently. Like I said, it is only €92. This is not a huge amount but it has rightly been seen by the reservists as a very mean cut whereby they are not getting paid for what they were previously getting paid for. They are currently getting paid for a much more narrow range of activities. I tabled a written parliamentary question to the Minister for Defence who replied that a business case is being prepared. However, is this not a simple decision that the cut should be reversed?

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