226. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Defence if the pursuit of financial liability arising from the undertaking set out in CCR 446 has been waived or stood down for an individual case in each of the years 2020 to 2026; and if so, the grounds for so doing. [59884/26]

CCR 446 is a Conciliation Council Report concerning educational training as agreed, under the Conciliation and Arbitration Scheme for members of the Permanent Defence Force.

It is essentially a contract outlining the agreement between the individual undertaking a course, paid for by the State, and the Defence Forces.

Undertakings are standard practice across the public and civil service where taxpayer money is paid to educate personnel. The purpose of these undertakings is to ensure that the Defence Forces obtain value for money for the considerable time, resources and taxpayer funding that is expended on the education of members, through either their serving an appropriate period in the Defence Forces or through the return of some, or all, of the costs involved.

The Defence Forces are responsible for the management of Educational Undertakings and I am advised that different scheme codes apply to different courses of education and training. The amount owed by an individual is dependent on the scheme code as there are different calculations pertaining to different scheme codes or courses.