Mr. Charlie Mott:

There are a few points we might have missed. All of the members of the Irish United Nations Veterans Association, IUNVA, are volunteers; we do not get paid and we work on our own time. There is a kind of misconception as many members of the public might see us coming in here, dressed in our finery and say those guys are on a handy number. We do not get paid and we do this because we care. It is the same with ONE.

We have offices around the country in Dublin, Mullingar, Fermoy, Portlaoise and Clonmel, and they are open Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. They are manned by volunteers. We have a girl in Dublin and a girl in Portlaoise on a work experience programmes. There is a turn over every year, so just as peope gets used to the job, they are moved on. We need people on a permanent basis, as people are coming in off the streets. We have spoken about PTSD. Last week in Portlaoise, where I am from, an ex-member came in who is in a lot of trouble. I hope we will be able to point him in the right direction. We have an ad hocsystem that we would like to put in place properly so we can direct people to the personal support services or, if they need it, the Army benevolent fund. We need to tie this down better. Welfare matters are a big priority for us and we, along with ONE, have come a good bit on that in recent years.

We have 1,200 members and we have 800 subscribers. They pay us €2 per month out of their pension and 170 of those are widows of persons who have served. It is our priority to take care of these people as well. They have served overseas and if they come to us with problems, we contact ONE, which takes care of them from then. The two organisations work closely. I thank the committee for the chance to speak today.