Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 12 Mar 1991

Vol. 406 No. 3

Written Answers. - Army Personnel Allowances.

Michael Noonan

Ceist:

280 Mr. Noonan (Limerick East) asked the Minister for Defence the reason officers of the Irish Army serving in Central America do not receive the same home Government allowances as officers serving in Lebanon; if he will examine the situation with a view to raising the allowance to £30 per day with effect from the 1 January, 1991; if he will also ensure that an adequate telephone allowance is paid to them which would cover the cost of telephoning their families twice monthly; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Defence (Mr. Daly)

The overseas allowances payable to officers of the Permanent Defence Force serving with United Nations observer missions were recently reviewed by the Commission on Remuneration and Conditions of Service in the Defence Forces. The commission recommended that the overseas allowance paid to members of Observer Group Lebanon should be increased to £12.51 per day. The commission did not recommend an increase in the rate of overseas allowance for other observer missions including the United Nations Observer Group in Central America (ONUCA) which remains at £10.1 per day.

In addition, mission subsistence allowance is paid by the United Nations according to location in the ONUCA area of operations as follows:

Location	First 30 Days (Per Day)	Subsequently (Per Day)
	$	$
Costa Rica	125	70
El Salvador	63	60
Guatemala	54	54
Honduras	98	65
Nicaragua	120	75

The question of telephone facilities for members of ONUCA is being examined.