asked the Minister for Defence if he is prepared to allow all soldiers who left the Army without leave and joined other armies during the war, and who are now anxious to return to their relatives, to return home without fear of legal proceedings being instituted against them.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Army Absentees.
I am afraid that I cannot share the Deputy's apparent solicitude for deserters. They are, in my opinion, worthy of very little consideration. I have come to the conclusion, however, that deserters of the emergency and reserve classes are, at this stage, not worth the trouble which dealing with them as they deserve would involve for the Army and Gárda Siochána authorities. I propose, therefore, if the Government agree, to introduce legislation which will have the effect that the Deputy desires but will also deprive a deserter of any rights he may have had as a member of the Defence Forces as well as of any right, for a long time to come, to employment remunerated out of public funds.
They will not get pensions, of course?