Vol. 480 No. 8
4 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Defence the way in which he intends to address the issue of pay and allowances in the Defence Forces, particularly in relation to BSE patrols in the Border areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15197/97]
In addition to basic pay all personnel posted to Border units are paid a Border duty allowance of £50.07 per week in the case of officers and £45.13 per week in the case of noncommissioned officers and privates. The allowance is paid, irrespective of the actual hours worked, on a continuous basis, including periods of annual leave and sick leave. A military service allowance is also payable to all members of the Permanent Defence Force up to and including the rank of colonel to compensate personnel for the special conditions associated with military life, such as the unsocial hours of duty, being subject to transfers and a requirement to serve in all conditions. The current rate in the case of officers is £2,101 per annum, and in the case of non-commissioned officers and privates is £40.28 per week or £2,101 per annum with the exception of privates with less than three years service who receive £14.50 per week. The allowance is paid on a continuous basis, irrespective of the actual hours worked.
Under the Defence (Amendment) Act, 1990 the issue of pay and allowances comes within the scope of representation of the Permanent Defence Force Other Ranks Representative Association, PDFORRA and the Representative Association for Commissioned Officers, RACO and may be processed through the conciliation and arbitration scheme for the Permanent Defence Force which was established in agreement with the associations. The question of the payment of an allowance to personnel involved with the recent BSE-related operations in Border areas has been raised by PDFORRA under the terms of the conciliation and arbitration scheme. Under the terms of the scheme, as agreed with the associations, discussions on claims which are being processed are confidential. The Deputy will appreciate, therefore, that as the matter is under active consideration at present it would not be appropriate for me to comment further at this time.
There has been considerable disquiet on the issue of the BSE Border patrol payments and the naval patrol allowance. The Minister says the matter is confidential and I respect that. There is a feeling that Border duty allowances were offered and subsequently withdrawn. Will the Minister comment on that?
I am aware of the concern. I will be attending the PDFORRA conference next week and I will address the issue there. The matter is one of legitimate concern to PDFORRA. I do not know whether it will be resolved to the satisfaction of the parties involved or, indeed, whether it will be resolved at all. It would be dishonest of me to say otherwise. I am involved in intensive ongoing discussions on the issue and, in so far as I am the Minister for Defence, I am on the side of PDFORRA and RACO. On the other hand, I do not wish to go down the populist road. I am open to criticism from those organisations from time to time and I have no problem with that. I am a Minister for Defence and I intend to do the best I can for those organisations.
I wish the Minister success in his negotiations because they are important. It would be disturbing if agreement were not reached on this deeply felt issue. The concern of the Defence Forces' organisations and their members seems to be a legitimate one.
On a related issue, some disquiet has been expressed about PDFORRA's negotiating rights in relation to national pay agreements. Its members made some comments recently to the effect that there should be some form of affiliation or relationship with the ICTU, which seems to be a different route for the Army to consider. Will the Minister comment on that?
I do not want to comment very much on that. The personnel at the head of PDFORRA are well qualified to negotiate with the Department of Defence on behalf of their members. They are people of considerable experience and wisdom and they are well able to manage their own affairs. The Deputy will appreciate that the organisation is effectively new, in the sense that it is not long in existence, and in many ways it is still finding its feet. If there is a problem in relation to its members feeling put down in some way, I am open to hearing about that. I hope to discuss with members of PDFORRA any matters of immediate concern they may have in that regard. I am on the side of RACO and PDFORRA as representatives of the men and women in the Defence Forces and I would like to think I will be known as a Minister who at least did his best for them, and who tried to make the Army, the Navy and the Air Corps a more pleasant place in which to serve.
Obviously these organisations believe there are some barriers in their negotiations, so much so that they have said they want to consider some type of affiliation. Perhaps we will see the final outcome of this matter when the Minister is in a position to report on the negotiations currently under way in relation to the two issues I mentioned. They are probably the issues that have driven the representative organisations in the direction to which I referred. The Minister said these people are competent in handling their own affairs but it is they who have raised this concern. They believe their hand is not strong enough because of the slow progress in relation to the patrol allowances in particular. I hope the negotiations prove they do not have cause for concern.
