Vol. 431 No. 5
42 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Justice the reason for the difference in retirement pensions for gardaí who retired prior to 1982 regarding the treatment of allowances for pension purposes; the amounts which are typically involved for each garda; and the plans, if any, there are to review the issue.
The Garda Síochána arbitration board Report No. 15 — which has been fully implemented — recommended that certain allowances payable to members of the force, should be made pensionable with effect from 1 October, 1982.
The Garda Pensioners Association subsequently asked to have the benefits of the recommendation concerning rent allowance applied to their members who retired before 1 October, 1982. That Association was informed in August, 1984, that, because of the very considerable additional costs involved and the critical state of the Exchequer finances, the recommendation could not be applied to those members. There are no proposals to change that decision.
As regards the information sought by the Deputy in relation to the amounts involved for each garda, the position is that because allowances payable to members of the force vary according to the duties being performed, this information could be obtained only by the expenditure of a disproportionate amount of time and resources.
