asked the Minister for Defence why the pensions of retiring Army personnel are withheld until they vacate married quarters when the Department has no scheme to seek alternative accommodation for such personnel and local authorities make no special provision for these cases.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Army Pensions.
48.
Defence Forces Regulations provide for the recovery, as a public debt, of charges in respect of the use of quarters, furniture, water, gas and/or electricity by former members of the Defence Forces. While unauthorised possession is continued, it is not possible to finalise those charges. The Defence Forces (Pensions) Scheme provides for the recovery of such charges from pension and for the withholding of pension until the amount of the deduction is ascertained.
The provision of houses for ex-military personnel is a matter for the local authorities concerned who are generally co-operative in this regard. Soldiers who are about to be released from the Permanent Defence Force are advised by the military authorities to apply to the local authorities concerned for re-housing. Following the making of each such application, my Department requests the local authority to give favourable consideration to each individual case.