I have spoken numerous times to the Tánaiste in his role as the Minister for Defence about soldiers being forced to be discharged from the Army when they reach the age of 50. I met an NCO chef who is coming up to 50 in January 2025. He is a very fit soldier who passes the fitness test and medical every year. He is currently running the kitchen in the local barracks where I come from-----

In Dundalk, is it?

----and as the Tánaiste knows there is a big shortage of chefs and numbers of soldiers are at an all-time low. This chef has over 24 years' experience. He has a family with three children who will go to college and still has a 15-year mortgage to go. He would love to stay in his job but at the moment he feels as though he is being forced out and unsurprisingly is looking for a job. I have raised this with the Tánaiste many a time and he gave me a commitment. "Commitment" may be a wee bit strong but he gave me a commitment that this would be sorted out. We are losing good people from the Defence Forces and a 50-year-old man is a young person. Over the last number of months the age limit for joining the Garda has been raised to over 50.

The Deputy is over time. Thank you.

Will the Tánaiste please provide some kind of clarity on what will happen to these fit people who are being forced to leave the Defence Forces?

There is active work under way in respect of raising the retirement ages in our Defence Forces and in other uniformed forces as well. It takes a cross-departmental approach. We had meetings prior to Christmas on this. I anticipate that measures will be decided upon shortly that should inform the gentleman spoken about-----

In time for 2025.

-----that might assist him before that deadline of 2025. We had interim measures and increased the ages on that basis but I am looking for a more permanent sustainable solution because I agree with what the Deputy is saying.