Maintenance of essential services allowance was not paid to the 2,200-odd Defence Forces personnel who performed BSE-related duties. These personnel did however receive a once-off gratuity the amount of which was based on the number of duties performed. The overwhelming majority of these personnel have now been paid and gratuities totalling £745,500 have been paid to date.
Some difficulty was experienced in confirming the number of duties performed by a small number of other personnel and negotiations with the representative association have been continuing for a considerable time. Final agreement on the remaining gratuities was reached earlier this month, and arrangements to pay the outstanding gratuities, amounting to some £28,000 were put in place last week. Payment of all outstanding BSE-related gratuities will take place during the month of November.