Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I had a question down on this point which was, unfortunately, transferred. I want to take the opportunity to ask the Minister if he appreciates there are serving members of the Defence Forces who, because their pay is so low, are qualifying for the working family tax credit, or family income supplement, as it was called. This is a mark of why morale is so bad in the Defence Forces. People are being offered jobs outside and are leaving a career they love and in which they have served their country so well and so proudly.

It used to be the norm all over Ireland that a soldier at corporal level with a family could look forward to buying an affordable house. That has all gone out the window. The Government has shown no imagination in assisting members of our Defence Forces, who do us proud in Ireland and right around the world, to become owners of an affordable house.

See this speech in context