Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman for the opportunity to contribute. I apologise that through my role in the Seanad I could not be here earlier. I wish to welcome our guests. I come from a county where we have a huge appreciation and regard for our Defence Forces in that many of the personnel live in Cavan town and Cootehill in County Cavan. The personnel are very highly regarded in our community. For that reason, I appreciate the opportunity to contribute briefly.

I salute the work that was done by the Defence Forces during the pandemic and all the peacekeeping work that they have done. The forces recently helped to respond to the cyber attacks. We very much admire and need the Defence Forces and the work they do. It should be respected. It is regrettable that they have to win so many of their awards through the courts and through appeals made to other bodies. That is very sad, given how central the forces are to our lives.

I note that it has been said that there was no consultation on the proposed establishment of a pay review body. That should be addressed. How do the witnesses propose that we might address that?

I am also interested in the point made that members of the forces do not pass pickets. Personally, I can see no reason why members would not be linked to ICTU. On the question of passing pickets, witnesses said that all lawful orders would trump that. I presume that a lawful order would be to pass a picket in a certain instance. The question of members being punished by IPTU is an interesting one. Perhaps the witnesses might explain why they would not be afraid of that. I would have thought that that is a more persuasive argument than the first one. I would like a response on that.

The fact that there are 600 vacancies at corporal level is a very serious issue. That needs to be addressed. I hope that the commission on the future of the Defence Forces will address that.

Fundamentally, I thank the Chair for the opportunity. I am conscious that I have come in late and much of the ground has been covered. However, as a person who lives and works among the members and personnel of the Defence Forces in County Cavan, I wish to express my support for the very reasonable case that is being made.