Plea over Army pensions

Many Army veterans could die before a long overdue pension allowance allowance is paid to them, it was claimed tonight.

The Irish United Nations Veterans Association (IUNVA) said up to 1,000 soldiers had been excluded from the military service allowance, which was introduced in 1979 to compensate for long hours and the absence of overtime pay.

Chairman Paul Smith criticised the Government for failing to act sooner.

“The sad thing about it is that the numbers are getting smaller every year. We estimated there were around 1,800 people entitled to the military service allowance in their pensions but it’s less than 1,000 now.”

He said that the allowance would increase the pensions of the soldiers in question by around €40 a week.

The military service allowance (MSA) became part of army pensions in 1990 following the recommendations of the Gleeson Commission into defence forces’ pay.

However, the Government decided the allowance would only be paid to members who retired after August 1, 1990 – the day after the report was published. It said this was consistent with the public pensions policy of not paying increases to existing pensioners.

But Mr Smith said the arbitrary nature of the date had excluded many soldiers who had always been paid the allowance in their wages since its introduction 11 years earlier.

“If I retired on July 31, 1990, I got no MSA in my pension. If I retired on August 2, I did. It was legal but it was an immoral thing to do.”

In 2000, Defence Minister Michael Smith told the Dáil the MSA increase had been resisted by successive Governments because of the ‘overall cost implications’.

IUNVA and other groups representing retired army personnel made submissions to the Commission on Public Service Pensions, which was set up by the Government in 1996.

In its final report in 2001, it said the cost of extending the benefit of MSA to the 4,000 pre-August 1990 pensioners would be €7m a year.

The Commission added that it might also lead to knock-on pension increases for retired gardaí, prison officers and teachers.

The Department of Defence said there was no possibility of the increase being granted because it had not been recommended by the Commission on Public Service Pensions.

“No change in existing policy on this matter has been authorised or is contemplated,” a spokesman said.