Speaking on "Morning Ireland" earlier, the former head of the Army Ranger Wing, Commandant Cathal Berry, stated that the Defence Forces are being dismantled and demoralised as a result of Government policy. The facts bear that out. There is, in the Defence Forces, as in other areas of the public service, a recruitment and retention crisis. The number of serving personnel has dropped below 8,500 despite a commitment to maintain numbers at 9,500. Morale is on the floor. We are in a situation where members see a long-term career in the Defence Forces as unsustainable and unviable if they are to provide for their families. As a result, they are choosing to leave. This is down to the simple fact that Defence Forces personnel are the worst-paid members of the public service. Many Defence Forces families are reliant on the working family payment. The fact that many families cannot make ends meet has been highlighted here and elsewhere on countless occasions. Some, as the Minister is aware, resort to sleeping in their cars as a way to save on petrol. Others rely on the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. The Taoiseach stated in January that joining the Defence Forces is about more than just money. I agree with him in that regard because being a member of the Defence Forces is not a cushy number. The work involved is hard and can be dangerous. Those joining the Army, the Naval Service and the Air Corps are motivated primarily by a desire to serve. All of us appreciate that. However, people do not join the Defence Forces to be disrespected or marginalised. Pride does not put bread on the table. This situation has been allowed to run on without any resolution. The reasons for this are obvious. Members of the Defence Forces have been consistently sidelined in public service pay negotiations.

They are excluded from trade union membership or affiliation with ICTU, and they are legally prevented from protesting their terms and conditions of employment. No other worker in the State gets as raw a deal. It is time for the Minister to listen to their concerns and the concerns of their families, as well as to the concerns of former personnel.

Will the Minister recognise that serious damage has been done to the reputation of the Defence Forces as a career option? Will she listen to what Commandant Berry has said, and what hundreds of other former personnel have to say? Will she listen to soldiers and their families, who have said that enough is enough?

The Government is fully committed to ensuring the Defence Forces have the necessary resources to deliver on all of their assigned roles, as evidenced by an allocation of more than €1 billion to the defence sector, to include Army pensions, in 2019. This allocation includes full funding for the pay and allowances of the target strength of 9,500 Permanent Defence Force personnel, as set out in the White Paper on Defence.

The Government is extremely conscious about issues surrounding recruitment and retention within the Defence Forces, which is why these matters have been referred to the Public Service Pay Commission for consideration. This is the right body to examine conditions in the Defence Forces. It is independent and has received submissions from management, both military and civil, and from the representative associations. The Defence Forces have been able to feed into this process; it was part of the consultation. The report is due to be published shortly, and we look forward to its outcomes.

Similar to other sectors within the public service, the pay of Permanent Defence Force personnel was reduced as one of the measures to assist in stabilising national finances during the financial crisis. The recovery in the economy has provided the fiscal resources to provide for a fair and sustainable recovery in public service pay scales. Like other areas of the public sector, members of the Defence Forces are benefitting from pay increases in accordance with national public service pay agreements. The focus of these increases is weighted in favour of those on lower pay. The Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020 provides for increases in pay ranging from 6.2% to 7.4% over the lifetime of the agreement and will see restoration of public sector pay scales to levels that obtained before the financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, for all those earning under €70,000.

Cathal Berry was quite damning; he said that there is a sense of absolute betrayal and that it is palpable and visceral. He added that he has not seen anything even remotely like this in his 23 years of service. The Minister has described a process of pay restoration. She seems to take the view that the Defence Forces personnel are getting a fair and sustainable deal, when all of the evidence is to the contrary. I am sure the Minister has met Defence Forces personnel and their families, because they have been extremely vocal. They feel they have no option but to speak out. They are not getting by.

When will the Public Service Pay Commission report be published? Can the Minister give us an assurance that when it is published, there will be substantial progress and substantial benefit for members of the Defence Forces and their families? Anything short of that or any approach by Government that is merely concerned with going through the motions will mean that personnel will continue to leave and that these families will continue to struggle.

Sinn Féin has tabled an amendment to the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2018, which is due to be discussed tomorrow. It recognises that members of the Defence Forces are employees and are entitled to the same protections as every other worker in the State. Will the Minister support that amendment?

The commission has completed its report which will be considered by the Taoiseach and the Minister for Defence and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and for Finance. It will then be brought to Cabinet. That will happen in the coming weeks.

All Members agree the Defence Forces do wonderful work. We are proud of the work they do, particularly in the peacekeeping duties they carry out abroad and how well they represent us overseas. In terms of the emergency situations which arise in the country, they are always there to lend a helping hand. We are conscious of this but we will have to allow the process to be completed. The commission has completed its report at which we have to look. We will be considering its findings at that stage.