Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

With respect to the use of the Defence Forces at Dublin Airport, once again, when this country is in crisis, we fall back on the Defence Forces, whose members will not be paid the national minimum wage for the hours they work. They are the lowest paid public servants. Many of them will be dragged to Dublin from all over the country to provide these services.

I appreciate that Dublin Airport is in crisis. I was out there at 2 a.m. this morning and I saw the queues and the crowds. I have to compliment the staff. My two granddaughters, tiny little girls, were standing in the queue for over 40 minutes and a Dublin Airport Authority official came over and said that it was not fair to have those little girls standing in a queue and brought them straight to the top to check in. I compliment the people because that is not an easy thing to do when there are long queues of people. I understand that they did the same for many children.

Whenever there is a crisis, whether floods, Covid, fires or anything else, the Army is brought in. Some of these guys and girls will be asked to work 24-hour shifts and they will not be paid the standard overtime that any other employee in the State would get. It is wrong in every sense of the word. On the pay policy being pursued by the Government at the moment, I agree that the low paid have to be compensated but, when one gives a low-paid person €500 in a national pay round, one damages the differentials that exist. It is now the case that non-commissioned officers who are being monitored by commissioned officers are earning slightly more than those officers because of the differential that has come about.

I visited McKee Barracks for veterans' day and there was great anger that no Minister showed up at the barracks for the day. I again had the issue of the 2016 medal thrown in my face. People who served for 40 years were not given the 2016 medal but people who served for one day in 2016 were. It is not about the medals but about respect, loyalty and why we look to the military in every circumstance.

We have had the commission report for five months but absolutely nothing has been done about it. Many things could have been done at the stroke of a pen, particularly in the area of pay. I cannot understand it. Germany became aware of a problem in its defence forces and threw €100 million at it in a matter of days. Other countries around Europe are doing the exact same thing while we have been sitting on this report for five months, waiting for a memo to Cabinet in the dying days of this Government. I should have said "dying days of this term", although who knows?