asked the Minister for Defence when the allowances paid to military personnel overseas were last fixed and at what rates; and if he will now substantially increase them to compensate for the fall in value of money.

The overseas allowances for Irish military personnel serving with the United Nations Force in Cyprus were fixed in March, 1964. The inclusive allowances are as follows:

The answer to the second part of the question is "No".

I might add that Irish officers serving with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation in the Middle East are not paid overseas allowances. The United Nations pay these officers a subsistence allowance of 10 US dollars per day and this rate has remained unchanged for the past ten years.

Are the same allowances paid to all troops in the various countries?

We have only scant information. The United Nations do not publish figures in relation to allowances but from the information we have, it would appear that our allowances compare very favourably with the majority.