Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The fact that, in this day and age, there are those in the service of the State with responsibility for protecting the State and who face the possibly putting their lives at risk are on an annual gross salary of less than €25,000 needs to be addressed. To be fair, the Defence Forces comprise one of the arms of the public sector that has taken a severe hammering over the past ten years. If we are honest about it, we will realise that the inability of the Defence Forces to go on strike and the fact that personnel are not unionised and must take and carry out orders may be taken advantage of.

The Minister of State has spoken about the inaction of previous Ministers for Defence. It is irrelevant. He is the person in charge now and the person tasked with defending the Defence Forces and bringing a proposal on public sector pay to the table. We need to see a significant increase in pay, not a minuscule one or one that does not actually afford any extra purchasing power. In this day and age, the salary does not provide an adequate standard of living. We seriously need to address pay. We are always talking about the loss of experienced personnel, the officer corps, but the privates and NCOs are the ones on seriously low incomes and the ones who are mainly affected.

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