Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am also happy to speak on these matters. I welcome the report, although a report is not much good to struggling Army personnel. I am awfully disappointed. I come from south Tipperary. We had a very proud record with the Army in Clonmel. We had a wonderful barracks and battalion there. It served with dignity and looked after the townspeople whenever there were floods or any other kind of disasters. The soldiers were the first out to help. The Minister of State's Fine Gael Government robbed us of that. Phil Hogan moved them to Kilkenny. To hell or to Connacht. Some of them went to Limerick. Many of them left. We are now in a situation that is totally untenable for the Army. It is blindfolded with its hands behind its back. There is no capability in the Naval Service and very little in the Air Corps. While I welcome the recent Cabinet decision to reinstate the helicopter in the south east and the search and rescue, I am disappointed the Air Corps has no part in that, even on a supporting basis. What are we doing? Are we going to stand it down completely? We are giving out huge, lucrative contracts to private companies. Our Army could be used to supplement and complement that outcome.

I refer to the Women of Honour. My goodness, how much more do they have to endure? Why can they not be listened to and dealt with sensibly? Deputy Michael Collins mentioned Deputy Kehoe, who formerly had responsibility for this area. He did not care for the Army. He showed arrogance toward the personnel in Clonmel and different places. We were so embarrassed. In my own village there are Army personnel who served in the Lebanon and other dangerous parts of the world. I salute all members of the Defence Forces who served in peacekeeping. We did not have an Army personnel carrier. They were booked to come home to their families, with christenings and everything planned, but they were waiting for more than two weeks in the heat of midsummer with no personnel to bring home our own soldiers. What are we at? They were out there serving our nation's flag proudly and we abandoned them. It was two or three weeks before they could get home, which was past the time they were supposed be home. Imagine the weight on and the angst among the families during that time. It was a very degrading thing to do to them.

Where do we go now? The report recommends a number of measures. All involve large sums of money but it is like a car in that if it is totally clapped-out you are going to get nothing for it. We should have been investing. We all appreciate there were cuts back in 2009 and 2010 but we have cut and cut. I salute the former Minister of State, Willie Penrose, of the Labour Party who stood with honour and resigned his position to defend the barracks and soldiers in the midlands. Others, like our own from Tipperary, just voted with the Government, Tá, Tá, Tá, to get rid of the barracks. It was a disaster for the town of Clonmel. It was as bad as losing any industry. I refer to the dignity and the pride and the Army women. The Army members could not lobby but the Army wives lobbied so hard. They literally begged the politicians. Their morale was so low as well because they were not listened to. They were crushed.

As I said, we have a proud record, going back a great length of time to the Congo, of serving abroad and being recognised as an independent nation. Now we do not know what we are. We do not know whether we are independent, neutral or what we are. We are neither this nor that. We have debates here about PESCO and many other things. We are not really being honest with ourselves when we put our hand on our heart and say we are neutral. We are not. We are being laughed at and being used. We are depending on aircraft from other countries to defend our waters and our airspace. We conceded that after 9/11 and that was a temporary arrangement. The fact is we do not have the jets to defend our country. What kind of pride have we in our nation that we allow this to go on? I would say there is none.

The Minister of State's party has been in government for ten or 11 years and it cares little for the Army. Of course, soldiers would not mainly be Fine Gael voters. Pay and conditions are atrocious. Defence Forces' members are going to supplementary welfare officers begging for a pittance. The other big bugbear I have is around when dignitaries visit. We recently got news Prince Charles will be visiting my constituency shortly. He will be asked about Bloody Sunday and those issues and they must not be swept under the carpet but he is paying a visit that will be respected by the people of Tipperary and he will be welcome. I am sure the Army will be there supporting An Garda Síochána. Army members are like third-class citizens with the treatment they get. They do not get any of the stipends, a proper place to sleep or proper food parcels. It is despicable the way they are treated. They are treated like fourth- or fifth-class citizens. We saw that when President Trump and different people came, such as when his Holiness the Pope came to Ireland. It is shocking we would treat the defenders of our nation, flag and sovereignty like that. The disrespect we have for Army personnel is shocking and must change. That report is useless if we do not show them the respect and dignity they deserve and have them be able to serve with pride and honour for the sake of their country, which is what they signed up to do. We have such a drain of pilots and others to private industry. I am appealing to the Government to show personnel respect and dignity and to look after the Women of Honour also.

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