Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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566. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if steps will be taken to ensure that members of the Permanent Defence Force who undertake courses in Carlow IT and other such colleges of education and who are entitled to claim public transport expenses to attend same will receive payment of such expenses (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52930/17]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Members of the Permanent Defence Force can claim the cost of public transport expenses associated with attendance at approved courses of training or instruction in accordance with the provisions of Administrative Instruction 08/2002. Expense claims by individuals attending courses are submitted through the chain of command within their respective Brigades, Branches and Services and assessed by the appropriate authority. Once authorised, such expense claims are forwarded to the Department’s Finance Branch for payment in the next available expenses payroll. Any claims submitted after 9 November 2017 are sent directly to the Department’s payroll provider for payment following authorisation.

The initial processing of travel claims for DF enlisted personnel is carried out at unit level. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to readily identify the units concerned from the information supplied in the question. If the Deputy can provide any information to me regarding the names of the military units concerned, I will have the matter further examined.