“I have received a letter from the Prime Minister relating to a gratuity payment for those who served in the Part-Time Reserve. I had decided, as a matter of courtesy, not to publish the content of this letter until I had met with the RUC GC Association which represents Part-Time Reservists and discussed the proposal with them.
These men and women served our country with great dignity and dedication, indeed some Reservists paid the ultimate sacrifice. Whilst former members of the Ulster Defence Regiment, Royal Irish Regiment and the Royal Ulster Constabulary received a suitable financial package when standing down, I have long felt it was unjust that Part-Time Reservists had been neglected and not given due recognition.
It will be necessary to determine whether payments should be based on length of service and to what extent? Should there be a minimum and/or maximum cut-off point? Should the payment be upon application or are records still held which are sufficiently robust? Only when these matters are clear can we be in a position to say what level of acknowledgement each Reservist would receive. It was for this reason I declined to make the letter public until I had a clearer picture of the likely scheme.
For clarity, it should be known that the Prime Minister’s office sent my letter to OFMDFM not knowing that Sinn Fein would be snooping on my correspondence.”
