Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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46. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if members of the Defence Forces have to pay for their air fares if they wish to return home for their three weeks leave while serving overseas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42089/24]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Earlier this year, I approved a management position on the implementation of the Working Time Directive across the Defence Forces, including a number of health and safety protections for military activities, deemed outside the scope of the Directive, due to their nature.

Officials in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment are working to develop the appropriate legislative mechanism to bring the Defence Forces within the scope of the Act and are also engaging with the Office of the Attorney General on this matter. To this end, my colleague and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Peter Burke TD, is hopeful that a Statutory Instrument will be ready by the end of the year.

As part of the additional health and safety protections to be provided to Defence Force Members, I have approved the provision one return commercial home-reunion flight to Ireland in respect of an operational tour of duty of six months, where the security assessment by the military authorities determines that the individual cannot avail of leave in-theatre.

This protection will be introduced as part of the overall Working Time Directive implementation package.

As I have previously stated, this piece of work is hugely important for each member of our Defence Forces. The implementation of the Working Time Directive is correctly seen as an important retention measure, and will ensure that health and safety protections, as prescribed in the Directive, are afforded to serving personnel.