Matt Carthy
Question:201. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence the allowances available to members of the Defence Forces for serving overseas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22787/23]
View answerTuesday, 16 May 2023
Questions (201)
Written answers
There are a range of allowances available to Defence Forces members on overseas deployments. The two most common are Overseas Peace Support Allowance (OPSA) and Overseas Armed Peace Support Allowance (OAPSA).
Overseas and Armed Peace Support allowances are paid along with the pay of the members of the Permanent Defence Force serving overseas and payment is commenced following notification from the military authorities that a member has proceeded overseas on a particular mission. Payment of the allowances is then ceased following notification of his/her return from overseas. It is important to note that these aforementioned allowances are paid tax-free, to participating personnel.
For your information, the current daily rate of OPSA is €70.34 for Enlisted personnel, €86.90 for Captains or lower commissioned officers, and €95.01 for those in the rank of Commandant or higher. The daily rate for OAPSA, paid in tandem with OPSA is 25.28, for Enlisted personnel, or €26.75 for commissioned officers.
Certain other overseas appointments, not of the OPSA or OAPSA nature, attract expense related allowances to ensure that Military Staff are not “out of pocket” as a consequence of necessarily incurred expenses in the discharge of their duties, while living abroad. These expenses include a Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) associated with a higher cost of living index at the post abroad, a Local Post Allowance (LPA) and a rent allowance, where applicable. A full Financial Support Package (FSP) applies to Training Courses of 12 months duration or greater and the criteria for applying these related fees is set out under a Conciliation Council Report under the Conciliation and Arbitration (C&A) Scheme for members of the Permanent Defence Force, the proceedings of which are confidential to the parties concerned.
Personnel on UN missions also receive Per Diem allowance, which is a subsistence rate, in effect, a payment is that is non taxable. At the same time, holiday pay is also payable to personnel, in certain circumstances depending on the duration of the deployment, on return from the overseas mission. This payment is also non taxable.
In addition to the above, military personnel serving overseas can, in certain circumstances, be paid Technical allowances for specific specialist roles they are undertaking, while deployed on overseas missions, to include, for example, cooks, drivers or logistics personnel.