In recent weeks, there have been quite startling reports regarding accommodation for young people and Tusla. These facilities have been deemed inappropriate and unsuitable. Enormous amounts of money, up to €50 million a year, go towards these providers. Some of the providers have been struck off in the context of the service they provide. This is a very serious issue. Obviously, it involves very vulnerable children. Is it now time to reconsider the model of outsourcing and privatising services, especially those for young children? Why are these facilities outsourced? Why can the HSE or the Department of Health not run them, rather than outsourcing them?

I am sure the Tánaiste, as Minister for Defence, and all Members of the House welcome the increase in the age threshold from 60 to 62 in respect of mandatory-----

It is earlier than 60, is it not?

I have allowed the Deputy to quickly ask his question. We are over time.

What is the timeline in that regard? I am dealing with a specific issue relating to John Molloy, a former member of the Defence Forces and the fire station officer in Dunleer. The station is operating with the minimum crew number of five, of which he is one, and there is no one to replace him. He will turn 60 on 24 May. The sooner the change to which I referred is made, the better, but there will be a need for a short-term fix in the case of people such as John if the changes are not in place in time. There would be a significant issue if Dunleer fire station were unable to operate because its staffing dropped under the minimum crew level of five members.

On the issue raised by Deputy Kenny, there is an investigation under way of Ideal Care Services and the unvetted staff issue. The model should be examined but we should be under no illusion that it would take a considerable length of time to develop both the physical capacity and the multidisciplinary capacity that would be required to deal with vulnerable children. On balance, I favour the idea of a stronger State involvement than merely privately outsourcing. It does not mean that all privately outsourced facilities are bad or poor, but certainly a very alarming situation has arisen and there are issues, so we need to examine the model.

I thought Deputy Ó Murchú was talking in terms of the Defence Forces. It will go from the early 50s to 60. I will do that by regulation by the end of the month. That will happen on 29 March in respect of the Defence Forces. It will go up to 60 from where it is now, and then to 62 when we have legislation passed. It is a big move for the Defence Forces, however. I do not have the specifics on the fire services, prison officers or gardaí as to timelines, but I will ensure we get that information to the Deputy.