Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Senator spoke about Garda pay and gave a figure. The starting rate for a garda now is €25,745 in year one, going up in 12 months to €28,000 and 12 months later to €29,834. That does not take account of quite generous allowances, particularly shift allowances and other allowances that gardaí have which very significantly supplement their pay from the beginning. I have discussed this with many gardaí and there is a bone of contention about an accommodation allowance that they used to have but no longer have. That was discussed in detail when we focused on allowances. People want to see more and more pay as core pay as opposed to being supplemented as it often was by an array of allowances that boggles people when they see the different things that were paid for in the past. That is a reasonable start. A staff nurse starts at €27,211.