Defence Forces Reserve.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 July 2006

Tuesday, 4 July 2006

Questions (802)

Bernard Allen

Question:

818 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Defence further to Parliamentary Question No. 239 on 14 June 2006, if his attention has been drawn to the difficulties arising for RDF officers assigned on 1 October 2006 to nominal appointments which are located substantive distances from their home addresses; if his further attention has been drawn to the fact that many of the gazetted staff appointments are not operational in the normal training environment; and if his further attention has been drawn to the fact that the new POCAR regulations do not provide for the reality of the situation in which many officers find themselves due to the changes in the location of the appointments rather than the individuals and, therefore, they have not been reimbursed for mileage incurred completing military duties. [26157/06]

Written answers

Minister for Defence (Mr. O’Dea)

The Deputy Chief of Staff (Support) issued comprehensive Administrative Instructions to provide for the filling of appointments in the Reserve Defence Force, to enable the reorganisation of 1st October 2005. Officers volunteered for specific appointments in the establishment and where possible were assigned to their unit and location of preference. The military authorities have informed me that a limited number of Officers were surplus to local establishments due to geographical demographics and were accordingly assigned to a unit nearest their home base.

It is my understanding that a comprehensive consultative process underpinned the reorganisation of the Reserve, that the process had the support of the Representative Associations and had due regard to the concerns of members of the Reserve and the requirements of the new Reserve. The revised DFR R5 (New Series) authorises the payment of motor travel allowances to Officers in respect of privately owned motor cars utilised in the performance of their official authorised duties. Currently, Officers who perform authorised duties, are paid an appropriate allowance per KM and I understand that this revision was broadly welcomed as the previous regulation restricted payment of this allowance to a maximum of two Officers per Company sized Unit.