Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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352. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the estimated cost of paying personnel the living wage for undertaking a 24-hour duty; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40298/20]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Remuneration for individual members of the Permanent Defence Force is dependent on a range of factors relating to the role and duties they perform. The minimum for trained personnel is comprised of Basic Pay and Military Service Allowance (MSA).

The pay structures and conditions of service of members of the Permanent Defence Force also 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. For example, a standard 24 hour security duty does not typically equate to an additional 24 hours work and where individuals are rostered to undertake such a duty they normally receive compensatory rest after such a duty.

As such, the variability of 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 and, consequently, do not facilitate the general application of a threshold rate of pay to a particular allowance.