Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to acknowledge that the Department has provided €300,000 towards the funding of services offered by ONE and IUNVA to former members of the Defence Forces. I seek clarity and a guarantee that the funding will be ring fenced. I ask the Minister of State to provide further detail on the nature of the services that will be resourced from that allocation. Specifically, I ask him to detail the funding for Post 24, the south Tipperary branch of IUNVA. It was formed in 2004 and initially held its meetings in the famous Kickham Barracks, Clonmel, which has since closed. It does tremendous work and is a link for the former members, some of whom have been left in poor circumstances after many years of service.

I ask the Minister of State to join me in offering sympathies on the death of Jimmy Cagney, a member of the Clonmel branch and a veteran who served in the Congo. He passed away in November.

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