Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 October 2018
169. Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if a review will be carried out into the pay and conditions of Defence Forces veterans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43218/18]
View answerI recognise the valued public service given by former servicemen and women of the Defence Forces to the State. As such, officials from my Department and I hold regular meetings with recognised Veterans’ Associations at which issues of concern to their members are discussed.
My Department has Service Level Agreements with the Organisation of National Ex-Service Personnel (O.N.E.) and the Irish United Nations Veterans Association (IUNVA) which set out the services the Department provides to these Associations. Under the terms of these SLAs my Department provides financial support by way of an annual subvention to O.N.E. and IUNVA to encourage their valuable efforts and the range of services they offer to ex-service personnel. In further recognition of this work, last week I announced that I was increasing my Department’s annual grant to O.N.E. from €44,000 to €100,000. This significant increase in the grant will make a substantial contribution to the work of O.N.E.
I was honoured to recently officially open a new Veteran Support Centre located in Custume Barracks Athlone I am strongly supportive of O.N.E.’s plans to establish further Veteran Support Centres around the country. Fitting out new Centres with equipment, training volunteers and the increased administration and insurance liability will increase O.N.E.’s overheads. The increase in the grant will defray some of these costs and allow O.N.E. to press ahead and bring to fruition their plans for a network of Veteran Support Centres nationwide.
I am also supportive of the annual Veterans’ Day and the launch of O.N.E.’s annual Fuchsia fundraising appeal and I am committed to continued engagement with Veterans’ Associations into the future.
