Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business that No. 7 be taken before No. 1. I refer to putting the Local Government (Use of CCTV in Prosecution of Offences) Bill 2021 on the Order Paper. The Bill seeks to confer a statutory footing similar to that conferred on the Garda Síochána by section 38 of the 2005 Act on the use by local authorities of CCTV in cases where the prosecution of offences is a function vested in them. I hope colleagues can support this proposal to amend the Order of Business.

Given that submissions to the public consultation of the commission on the Defence Forces will close on 5 March, I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for Defence to come before us to discuss a widespread and somewhat worrying state of affairs in the Defence Forces at this time. My colleague, Deputy Nash, received very worrying figures this week in reply to a parliamentary question he asked about the amount of money returned to the Exchequer from the defence budget in recent years. A total of €56 million was returned to the Exchequer between 2017 and 2020, and €130 million has been returned in the past seven years. These are astonishing figures given the recruitment and retention crisis, the lack of suitable barrack accommodation, the reduction in operational capacity and the failure to backdate increased allowances to members of the elite Army ranger wing, some of whom we understand are owed up to €40,000. PDFORRA and the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers, RACO, have highlighted it for years, yet significant sums of money have been returned to the Exchequer and the problems in the Defence Forces go unchecked. The time has come to examine how we allocate money to defence, including allocating money to cover salaries, training costs and military preparedness, including equipment, and to put an urgent end to the practice of returning money from the defence budget to the Exchequer. The commission is tasked with looking into the recruitment and retention problems in the Defence Forces. I respectfully ask it to begin by undertaking an urgent investigation into these figures, which are worrying to say the least.

I wish to raise the heroes of Jadotville once again in this Chamber. The Leader will remember the widespread support they got from so many Members of this House when we discussed this important event some months ago. Thankfully, in response to the debate that day, the Minister for Defence announced that an independent review board would be set up to examine this most important Irish military engagement. I record our continued thanks to all those local authorities that passed motions supporting the awarding of medals and recognising the bravery of the heroes of Jadotville. It is great to see that this important event in Irish military history and those who fought in it have such widespread support right around the country. I sincerely hope the heroes of Jadotville will get the reward their bravery and representation deserves. To quote the words of George Hamilton from another famous Irish event: "The nation holds its breath."