asked the Minister for Justice if he will give details of the increases recently allowed to certain members of the Garda Síochána; whether substantial amounts are at present being stopped from the pay of Garda Síochána recruits in respect of income tax; and if he will consider devising a more convenient method for such payments.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Pay and Income Tax of Gardai.
15.
The Garda Síochána Pay Orders, No. 2 of 1958 and No. 2 of 1959, prescribe the rates of remuneration payable to members of the Force in consequence of the last pay revision. The increases granted under these Orders, which are payable from 1st April, 1958, in all cases, correspond to the increases granted to civil servants on comparable salary scales with effect from that date. In the case of grades up to and including Superintendent the increase was 10/- weekly, with the exception that members under 21 years of age received only a 5/- increase. In the case of Chief Superintendents and higher grades, the salary rates were adjusted to bring them into line with higher civil servants who received increases representing 5 per cent. of the portion of basic pay in excess of £965.
Deductions from the pay of recruits in respect of income tax are made as soon as the amount of the assessment is notified by the Revenue Commissioners. Under this arrangement deductions are confined to the last 5 or 6 months of the year, and amount to between £4 and £5 a month in the case of most recruits. The question of spreading the deductions over a greater number of months is under consideration.