Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 January 2018
123. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if money owed to Army personnel for carrying out 24-hour duties will be issued as soon as possible in view of the fact that in many cases this money has not been issued since November 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55091/17]
View answerAfter a Security Duty is performed by a member of the Permanent Defence Force, the details of the duty are entered on the Defence Forces’ Personnel Management System (PMS) at unit level, where certain unit personnel have responsibilities relating to the processing of such duties. If the relevant personnel are not available the responsibilities relating to Security Duty Allowance (SDA) can be assigned to other unit personnel.
Once claims are approved by an authorised officer at unit level, the process for the payment of SDA is that all approved claims are downloaded electronically from the PMS on the 10th of each month (or closest working day) and sent to the Department’s Finance Branch from where they are forwarded electronically to the Department’s payroll provider for payment in the next available payroll.
I have been advised by the Military Authorities that all Defence Forces units have been informed of their responsibilities in relation to the processing of Security Duty Allowances by the relevant date. The process is contained in an Administrative Instruction which sets out the responsibilities of all relevant appointment holders involved.
Approved SDA claims for enlisted personnel were sent by the Department’s Finance Branch to the Department’s payroll provider on 14 November and 4 December 2017 and were paid on 22 November and 21 December 2017 respectively. Approved SDA claims for enlisted personnel that were received on 10 January 2018 have been forwarded to the Department’s payroll provider and are scheduled to be paid on 24 January 2018.
