Tomorrow, the wider Defence Forces community, including veterans, spouses, families and friends, will again campaign on behalf of serving members for the implementation of the working time directive. For well over a decade now, successive Governments have known they were in breach of employment rights legislation. There have been years of talking about implementing this directive and repeated commitments to doing so but very little in the way of action to actually do so. This denial of basic employment rights cannot continue. Is it the Government's intention to honour the recommendation of the Commission on the Defence Forces to end the free labour aspect of service? Will the Government act on its commitment in the programme for Government to amend the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 in order to bring the Defence Forces within the scope of its provisions?

I assure the Deputy that the work of the Commission on the Defence Forces is being taken very seriously by the Government. The Minister for Defence, Deputy Coveney, and I are in dialogue on that issue. The Minister will be bringing a proposal to Government in the coming weeks in the context of its response to the commission's recommendations. That proposal will set out how we intend to move forward into the future. As the Deputy knows, it is the right of all workers to have their legal rights upheld. We will be responding to the commission in all respects when that memorandum is brought to the Government in the coming weeks.