Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 April 2017
398. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the benefits that will be afforded to PDFORRA’s members as a consequence of their decision to sign up to the Lansdowne Road agreement by grade and rank in tabular form. [18864/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI believe that measures contained in the Lansdowne Road Agreement (LRA) and the provisions introduced in Budget 2016 and 2017 will be of benefit generally to members of the Permanent Defence Force (PDF). The provisions set out in the LRA are an extension of the provision of the Haddington Road Agreement and all existing dispute resolution procedures continue to apply.
The LRA provided for increased salaries during 2016 and 2017 in a manner which benefited the lower paid. These benefits come in the form of increases in gross pay in 2016 for those earning up to €31,000 and in 2017 for all those earning up to €65,000. In addition the Government has introduced legislation which has commenced the process to reduce the pay reduction applied under the FEMPI Acts.
In relation to the Pensions Related Deduction (PRD), which is commonly referred to as the ‘Pension Levy’, the exemption threshold for payment of the ‘Levy’ will increase substantially during the course of the agreement from €15,000 to €28,750 which means that annual income subject to the levy below €28,750 will no longer be liable to the deduction.
You will be aware that under the Lansdowne Road Agreement paragraph 5.3, the parties have agreed that any outstanding adjudication findings as referred to in paragraph 1.16 of the Public Service Agreement 2010-2014 will be reviewed jointly by the Parties prior to the expiry of the Agreement.
The benefits, as set out in Section 5 of the Lansdowne Road Agreement, that have been afforded to the ranks of the Permanent Defence Force represented by PDFORRA are set out in the following table:
|
Salary Range |
Payable from 1 January 2016 |
Payable from 1 April 2017 |
|
Up to €24,000 |
Increase of 2.5% of basic pay |
€1,000.00 |
|
From €24,001 to €31,000 |
Increase of 1% of basic pay |
€1,000.00 |
|
From €31,001 to €65,000 |
Nil |
€1,000.00 |
