Mary T Sweeney calls for reinstatement of supplementary pension ahead of election

Aontú has committed to re-instating the Supplementary Pension for fast accrual workers made up of the defence forces, gardaí and front line uniformed services.

That’s according to Aontú’s Mary T Sweeney, a candidate in Donegal who says: “This is a commitment in our party Manifesto and one that we’ll be sticking to. Aontú respects the sacrifices that our gardaí, members of the Defence Forces and uniformed services make for our communities and our country.

“They need to be protected, paid properly and have pensions that allow them  to live well when they retire after all their hard work.

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“As it is Garda morale is on the floor, and they are leaving the force quicker that people are coming out of Templemore. For every year Fine Gael has held the Ministry for Justice, garda numbers have fallen.

“Aontú has introduced a Bill that would mean an automatic custodial sentence for anyone who assaults a garda.

“Our Defence Forces are being badly neglected. We know that members of the rangers, the elite special force of the Irish Army have had  to buy their own protective headgear for example, this is completely and utterly unacceptable.

“The Irish Army  is facing major difficulties. Decades of underspending and a refusal by the government to pay staff an adequate salary has led to a collapse in the numbers of soldiers within the army and the inability of the Irish Naval Service to float more than one naval service vessel at a time."