John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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640. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if arrears of pay due to members of the Army Ranger Wing owed since 2010 will now be paid; the total amount due to persons and the numbers involved; the reason the payment due was not paid on time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15086/17]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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On 27 September 2010 the Adjudicator under the Conciliation and Arbitration Scheme for members of the Permanent Defence Force awarded an increase in the Army Ranger Wing allowance. This award is backdated to 1 June 2006. The Adjudicator’s Findings cannot be implemented having regard to the provisions of Sections 2 and 5 of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (No 2) Act 2009.

This adjudication is part of the outstanding adjudication findings covered under paragraph 1.16 of the Public Service Agreement 2010-2014.  Paragraph 5.3 of the Public Service Stability Agreement 2013-2018, known as the Lansdowne Road Agreement, states that “The Parties have agreed that any outstanding adjudications as referred to in paragraph 1.16 of the Public Service Agreement 2010-2014 will be reviewed jointly by the Parties prior to the expiry of this agreement.” The review mechanism is the subject of ongoing consideration in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

As the Army Ranger Wing is the Special Operations Force of the Defence Forces the exact number of personnel in it or their location is not released into the public domain, for reasons of operational security. In addition, factors such as the level of recruitment into the ARW and the numbers serving can vary over time which would impact in calculating the estimated costings in the manner sought by the Deputy. In the circumstances, I am not in a position to provide the costing in the format sought.