Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

No, there will not be a reversal. It will not be done overnight, but I have asked that new recruits from the west of Ireland are trained in Galway or Donegal, recruits from the east of the country are trained in Dublin or Kilkenny and people from the South will go to either Cork or Limerick, so that they are close to home when their training is finished. This will not always be the case and will not always work out, but to the best of the military's ability I have asked it to look at this. I have also asked that the general officers commanding look after their brigades and ensure as suitably as possible that people are placed near their homes.

The revised structure has meant that under-strength units have been consolidated into a smaller number of full-strength units and has led to the associated redeployment of personnel from administrative and support functions into operational units. The White Paper provides for the strength of the Permanent Defence Force to be at least 9,500 personnel with, accordingly, the retention of a two-brigade structure. We do not have any plans to reintroduce a third Army brigade. To revert to a three-brigade structure would adversely impact on the operational capacity of the Permanent Defence Force to continue to carry out all roles assigned by the Government. We do not want to have a third brigade that is under-strength. We need brigades that are at full strength and full capacity and have the capability to carry out whatever the Government expects of them.