In four previous submissions to the Minister of State with Responsibility for Defence, ARCOIreland advanced the argument that no grounds exist for not including the 2019 MSA increase in appropriate military pensions already in payment on 03 July 2019.
Following discussions with the newly appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence, Mr Simon Coveney TD, on the margins of the National Day of Commemoration Ceremony, ARCOIreland submitted an additional case on 17 July.
As the Public Service Stability Agreement specifically commits the Government to apply indexation (pay parity) to increases in the pre-existing pensions of public servants for the duration of the Agreement (2018 – 2020), appropriate military pensions already in payment on 03 July, 2019 should include the MSA increase.
The decision-making process associated with this issue could benefit from appropriate political intervention.
