Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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574. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if he will respond to allegations that some members of the Defence Forces serving on missions, such as Operation Pontus in the Mediterranean, are being paid less than the minimum wage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17052/16]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The pay structures and conditions of service of members of the Permanent Defence Force contain professional and technical remuneration elements in addition to allowances in the nature of pay which reflect the unique aspects of military life both at home and abroad. As such, the non-standard time and attendance patterns of military personnel and the rates of remuneration associated with a wide spectrum of duties undertaken by such military personnel can vary across the different branches of the Defence Forces. Defence Forces personnel engaged in overseas peace support missions are paid their basic pay along with the Overseas Peace Support Allowance (Armed or unarmed depending on the mandate of the mission). Members of the Naval Service engaged in the Maritime Humanitarian Search and Rescue Operation in the Mediterranean are being paid the rate for “Unarmed Peace Support Allowance” in addition to their usual remuneration.  This allowance is paid for the duration of the mission including from the date of departure to the date of return to base.

This is the same allowance as has been paid in the past to Army personnel deployed on humanitarian operations such as in Sierra Leone, Haiti etc. The Naval Service operation is not an armed mission in the sense of armed missions in UNIFIL (Lebanon), UNDOF (Golan Heights), Chad etc.

This Unarmed Peace Support Allowance is a daily allowance and is currently exempt from Income Tax and PRD deductions .

The following table sets out the weekly rate of the unarmed peace support allowance

Rates of remuneration and conditions of employment in the Irish public sector have traditionally been set by reference to relative levels of pay across the various sectors of the Irish public sector. The Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Acts of 2009-2015 and the Public Service Stability Agreement 2013-2018 (Lansdowne Road Agreement) define current pay policy.

Permanent Defence Forces Other Ranks Representative Association (PDFORRA) has made a claim for the application of the Minimum Wage to PDFORRA members of the Naval Service.This claim is currently being examined by the Departmental Side through the Conciliation and Arbitration (C&A) Scheme for Members of the Permanent Defence Force. As matters under consideration through the C&A Scheme are confidential, it would not be appropriate for me as Taoiseach to comment further at this time.