Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Senator referred to Operation Sophia. The Naval Service deployed on Operation Sophia last Sunday week. A total of 54 personnel is participating in that operation. Since Ireland entered into Operation Sophia the Naval Service has been gathering information on oil smuggling, has focused patrols on countering illegal arms trafficking, has operations around intercepting smugglers and is monitoring the effectiveness of the Libyan coastguard and navy. There is a perception that when the Naval Service picks up migrants they are brought back to the Libyan coastline. That could not be further from the truth; they are actually brought to Italy to a safe haven.

Any migrant that the Irish Defence Forces picked up was either transferred to another vessel and then transported, or we transported him or her ourselves. It is one or the other.

The family income supplement was raised. Fewer than 100 members of the Defences Forces are in receipt of the family income supplement. I think "family income supplement" is a bad name for it. It is a family payment. There are many people in different organisations in the private and public sectors who are in receipt of the family payment. It is there for a specific reason depending on the circumstances of a family. A three-star private, who is on €27,000, could have five kids, for example. Do we increase the salary for that person because he has five kids? The reason the family income supplement is there is to support that person because he - or she - has five kids; I do not want to be sexist by just saying "he". We cannot just increase someone's salary by 20% because he or she has five kids. That is the reason for the family income supplement, which is now more appropriately called the family payment. Between the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces, I think there are 165 or 170 personnel in receipt of the family income supplement. There are members of staff in the Department of Defence and right across every Department in receipt of it. I am not sure how many members of An Garda Síochána are in receipt of it. Family circumstances are the reason for that payment.

The morale of the soldiers was raised. If there is one thing I do, it is to speak to the soldiers. We would not have an Army without the enlisted and the privates. For me, that is the Army. We depend on them. They are the guys and women who will go to the front line. The officers do an outstanding job as do all members of the Defence Forces. No one has come to me about sleeping in cars. This is another rumour that is out there. I have spoken to PDFORRA and there is assistance available, whether a family income supplement payment, support through the representative organisations or support through the Defence Forces themselves or the Department; there is support out there for these people. I believe if anyone was sleeping in a car, I would know about it by now. This rumour is going on since I came into government in 2011. They were even sleeping in cars when Deputy Chambers's party was in government. This is going back and I have no hard evidence to say people are sleeping in cars.

I think the Deputy was here when I addressed the Public Service Pay Commission with Deputy McLoughlin and the process we are going through at the moment.