Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 68: To ask the Minister for Defence the savings that will accrue to his Department arising from the public service pay cuts applied by the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No 2) Act 2009; the number of personnel whose pay has been cut; the average reduction in each case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9191/10]

Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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The Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No. 2) Act 2009 provides for the reduction of public service salaries of up to €125,000 by 5% on the first €30,000 of salary, 7.5% on the next €40,000 of salary and 10% on the next €55,000 of salary. The Act also provides for a 5% reduction in the fixed-rate allowances payable to such public servants. It is estimated that gross savings of approximately €34 million will accrue in 2010 arising from the application of the pay reductions across the Department of Defence. There are three broad categories of employees on the Department's payroll. The payroll numbers affected in each category on 1 January 2010 were 9,915 military personnel, including Army nursing service personnel; 402 civil servants, including Civil Defence personnel; and 760 civilian employees. Based on the payroll outturn for 2009 and the average numbers in each category in that year, it is estimated that the average percentage pay reduction for each category will be 5.8% for military personnel, 5.9% for civil servants and 5.4% for civilian employees. Members of the Reserve Defence Force on paid training will be paid at the same reduced rates as their Permanent Defence Force counterparts.

Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State for those statistics. The Labour Party has received representations to the effect that members of the Defence Forces are availing of family income supplement to supplement their pay. It is difficult to establish how many people this may apply to. The Labour Party's major concern relates to lower paid staff in the Defence Forces, including civilian employees and civil servants. Does the Minister of State have information on how many members of the Defence Forces, including civilian employees and civil servants, are below the qualifying threshold for family income supplement?

Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I am afraid I do not have that information.

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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In recent times, a number of people have left the Defence Forces prematurely by taking early retirement. Can the Minister of State indicate why that has happened? Does he know whether it has happened for financial reasons, for example?

Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I do not. I understand from reading other material that a fairly high turnover within certain grades seems to be part of the military arrangements. I do not have any other information that might be of assistance to the Deputy.