Mr. Derek Priestley:

I will go back to the previous question on head 26. It is important that we make a distinction between the individual soldier and the representative association.

It is not lost on me that there are five former members of the Defence Forces sitting in front of me. I think we all know who they are and that is a good thing. There is a clear distinction between this side of the table and the currently serving members and our former serving members. I think the public know that and the politicians know that. That goes to the heart of the question of what is appropriate. For 34 years - nearly 35 years - we have been allowed to speak within our lane, based on secondary legislation, on matters of pay, allowances, health and safety and the working time directive, and that can only be a positive thing. We are being told that nothing is to change but we are now bringing in primary legislation that will force a change in the current secondary legislation. That is key to everything we are talking about here. We are going way beyond what the legislation wanted to do in 1990. What is the trigger for that? It is our application to join as limited members - associated members - of the ICTU. That is a concern for us. We see it as something that will limit our rights to do what we do daily.