asked the Minister for Defence if arrangements will be made to have allowances, comparable to the allowances paid for service in the Congo and Cyprus, paid for service with United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation since 1960.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Army Overseas Allowances.
50.
An allowance of £1.50 a day is payable currently. If it is a question of increasing this allowance or backdating it to 1960, the answer is in the negative. I might add that the nature of the mission and the conditions of service with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation in the Middle East are entirely different from those in Cyprus.
Could the Minister state from the information available to him what the daily rate was when troops were serving in the Congo?
An allowance of £1.50 a day is payable currently by my Department to officers serving in the Middle East.
Would the Minister not agree that from the point of view of the separation of soldiers from their families on service overseas there is very little difference between the service they gave in the Congo and what they are giving in Cyprus? Could the Minister not ask the United Nations to bring the daily overseas allowance up to a rate equivalent to what they were paid in the Congo in 1962?
The conditions are different in these cases. In the Middle East an allowance is paid by the United Nations and, in addition, an allowance is now paid by this country. In Cyprus the position is generally the same as that of the Congo.
I am aware of that. What I am asking the Minister to do is not to clarify the position but to make representations to the United Nations that they should increase the daily overseas allowance for Irish troops in Cyprus.
There is a fixed allowance of 12.50 American dollars per day in the Middle East in addition to our allowance.
The Minister must be aware that this daily allowance has not been increased——
We cannot discuss this matter all evening.
There is an allowance of £1.50 per day granted by the Irish State in respect of service in the Middle East and this is as far as the Government can go at the moment.