Our retained firefighters came off the picket lines recently in anticipation of a decent financial resolution for their claim. They set great faith in our commitments to them, but it is fair to say that they are less than enthused by discussions at the WRC. As it stands, the offer to them is €750. That is a derisory amount; no more than €14 a week. I have met several retained firefighters in recent days. While the union has pitched the claim at €10,000 per annum, I feel there is a sweet spot of about €5,000, or €100 per week. It is important that the situation is not allowed to fester and be dragged out. These firefighters perform an important service, in particular in rural Ireland. We need to do right by these highly valued employees, recognise their work and duly reward their efforts in what are often dangerous and life-threatening situations.

I thank the Deputy. Our retained firefighters do important, dangerous and difficult work. In their absence, communities such as the one the Deputy represents would not get the support and safety they need. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, has put huge effort into trying to resolve this issue. The Deputy has said there is a WRC process. Therefore, it is best that that is the way in which the issue is dealt and that I do not interject on the floor of the Dáil. The only issue is that there are full-time firefighters who are not retained, and we need to be fair to them in terms of pay and conditions. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and colleagues in my Department are working to see whether we can resolve this long-running issue.