James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We know, since the report on the workplace climate in the Defence Forces was published last year, the level of stress that Defence Forces personnel are under. Since then, as the numbers in the Defence Forces have declined, those stress levels can only have increased, especially as the Defence Forces have to work exceptionally long hours on top of that. I understand that there is still no psychiatrist in the Defence Forces. Perhaps the Minister of State can enlighten us on that.

Many of the staff are not only working long hours but are caught in poverty traps. For example, a Defence Forces worker, whose pay is so low that they have to take the family income supplement, cannot get a mortgage. When such a person goes to the county council for a county council mortgage, they are told the family income supplement is not an income but a social welfare support and the council cannot give them a mortgage. When they ask if they can go on the housing list, they are told the family income supplement is an income and they are over the threshold go on the housing list. Some of these soldiers and other Defence Forces personnel are being caught in poverty traps. Will the Minister of State address these matters?

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