Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the legislation which is very much a housekeeping Bill and is long overdue. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in May 2000 and it entered into force in February 2002. It has taken 18 years to change the law to remove references to minors in the Defence Forces.

The Bill also includes a number of amendments to the Defence Act 1954 to facilitate the re-enlistment of suitably qualified former enlisted members of the Defence Forces to fill certain positions. This is also very much overdue as we saw by the delays in re-enlisting Defence Forces personnel at the start of the Covid crisis.

While discussing reforming old laws, I ask the Minister to review the Curragh of Kildare Act 1961, as the Department of Defence is not the best authority to manage the public areas of the Curragh. The Curragh is the jewel in Kildare's crown and it is being held back by agency squabbles and underinvestment. The filling in of the hollow next to Donnelly's Hollow by the Department of Defence has shown that the Department does not have the best interests of the Curragh at heart. The Department needs to come clean on its role in this disgraceful debacle. Kildare County Council needs a stronger role in the management of public areas in the Curragh. We need proper investment in cycleways, walking trails, lighting, parking, CCTV and footpaths linking the peripheral areas of our towns to the Curragh.

Also long overdue are proper pay and conditions for members of the Defence Forces. The Defence Forces are an extremely important part of the country and are particularly important to County Kildare. The Government needs to engage with RACO and PDFORRA to ensure the Defence Forces get what they deserve. They are suffering from years of neglect by successive Governments. There are a number of simple steps to end this neglect. PDFORRA should be allowed to affiliate to the ICTU and scaremongering talk about striking soldiers needs to stop. The commission on the future of the Defence Forces needs to be established without delay. It needs to have a representative of the Wives and Partners of the Defence Forces group. This group has spoken out where Defence Forces personnel could not and has been courageous in making representations on their behalf.

The promises made under the high-level implementation plan as part of the Public Service Pay Commission need to be delivered. How can PDFORRA ask its members to sign up to any new pay deal in the absence of these promises being delivered? We need a plan to bring the Defence Forces back to full operational strength immediately. The plan needs to start with proper pay. It is no wonder we have a recruitment crisis. A new recruit with one year's service takes home €350. We need to appreciate our Defence Forces more. Applause at 3 o'clock every odd Saturday will not pay the bills. Some 20% of the families of enlisted personnel are in receipt of family income supplement. This is an absolute scandal. Having spoken to members of the Defence Forces, it is very clear that they have a great sense of pride in being a member. Many of them have family traditions and these need to continue. This is a case of family pride and I ask the Minister to solve the problem.

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