Mr. Michael Thompson:

Good afternoon a Chathaoirligh and the committee. We want to thank you for the opportunity, as both associations said, for giving us a chance to talk. I would also like to thank the Cathaoirleach as we are two people from the same town of Mountmellick. We are running CPR courses, defibrillator courses and mental health first aid courses, as Mr. O’Connor has mentioned. As a matter of fact, this Friday we are running another CPR defibrillator course in our drop-in centre in Athlone. Once we leave the Defence Forces, we cannot have access to the personal support services any longer. The personal support services are for access by serving personnel who are dealing with mental health problems. We then have to go ourselves to get help for housing and mental health and all that affects our veterans. That is the help that we need. We are not professionals. For instance, our local post in Portlaoise is in the Reserve Defence Force, RDF, building in Portlaoise. That is because of the goodness of the Defence Forces. They are moving to a new building in the next year or two. We have been told that we will have two rooms in there. If we did not have the RDF building in Portlaoise, we would have nowhere to meet.

We would not have the money to rent somewhere else. We are in the local community supporting the local community. We have all served. We have drop-in centres throughout the country, in Athlone, Fermoy and Clonmel, but we pay rent on most of those buildings. We do not pay rent on the one in Portlaoise. As I said, we are there with the support of the Defence Forces. Individual veterans have to turn up in the HSE's offices looking for help. The access we had while serving is gone. Once we take off that uniform and walk out, we do not have that access.

The other main thing is the Army benevolent fund, of which both IUNVA and ONE are members. It is a great opportunity for veterans. We are the eyes and the ears out there for the Defence Forces Benevolent Fund. We have plots in Bohernabreena, Donegal, Athlone and Mullingar. Our aim is to make sure that no veteran is left in a pauper's grave. Earlier this year we buried a veteran in one of our cemeteries in Dublin. The Defence Forces Benevolent Fund paid for the opening of the plot but he was buried in one of our plots. We put a plaque on the plot. He will be remembered. Just last Saturday, in Portlaoise, in our local post, we brought in the family of one of our colleagues. We framed his medals and presented that to his family. That is very important to families. We are proud to wear the medals we wear and proud to serve, as Mr. Campbell said. I heard Deputy Stanton talk about the opening of post 25 in Fermoy. That post has been supporting the Mullins family every year at the mass in Kilbeheny. Every year IUNVA remembers Patrick Mullins. Like every other veteran, as members of the two organisations have said, we in the veterans' organisations will not forget him. We go to the church and run the flags up the church. The Defence Forces put up a memorial for him in the graveyard in Kilbeheny a few years ago as well.

Mr. Brennan mentioned outside courses. Even for lower-ranking veterans leaving the Army, the Further Education and Training Awards Council, FETAC, courses are brilliant to do. I did one such course. I left the Army then and went to work in the hospital in Tullamore. I started off there as a porter. Through the FETAC course, I ended up going back and becoming a radiographer assistant because I had military training. For the soldier who is leaving and who may not have completed his leaving certificate, the FETAC courses are brilliant to do. As Mr. Brennan said, Mr. Murray beside us has done a course in Carlow.

We need more support for our veterans. We have a house in the Curragh where veterans live. We have a house in Cavan, in respect of which negotiations are ongoing with the council. We hope we may be allowed to build onto that house and put a few more veterans in it. They come in of a Thursday morning for the cup of tea and the chat, as Mr. Campbell said. We hear what their problems are. We try to support them in typing up letters and dealing with social services. That is where the veterans' office comes in. We need more support. As I said, if we did not have the post in Portlaoise, where would we meet? We are based completely on voluntary money. None of us are getting paid. Just last weekend, I put in Thursday, Friday and Saturday supporting veterans. We had a GoFundMe fundraiser set up through the sergeant major in the 27th Battalion to help the people of Lebanon. We raised something like €2,500 through social media with ex-members of the Defence Forces' support. We presented a cheque. A chap who served in Lebanon died and had no headstone. We in ONE went up there and IUNVA and ONE are supporting the erection of a headstone over that veteran's grave. He served his country. He should not be buried without a headstone in a pauper's grave. That is where our veterans association comes in.

I thank the committee and the Chairman for the opportunity to come in, to talk to the committee and to get our point across.