Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Lawless. Before going back to Mr. O'Driscoll, I will briefly throw two points into the mix. In his opening address, Mr. O'Driscoll mentioned that he will look at the structure of each of the three services in the light of current experience and then, taking into consideration what some members have said about the complexity of ongoing issues and cybersecurity in particular, also will look at international comparisons, given the size of Ireland's Defence Forces is relatively small. Would consideration be given or does Mr. O'Driscoll regard it as being within his terms of reference to look beyond each of the three services of land, air and sea and talk about an amalgamation of the services into a defence force rather than the current Defence Forces?

Second, I will follow on from a point by Deputy Berry, who is quite right when he speaks of a defence force being only as good as its people. That is taken as a given. We need to acknowledge that there are some morale issues. I believe Deputy Clarke spoke about a family-friendly environment and the need to ensure that the people who form the services have appropriate infrastructure.

My constituency is not too far away from the Curragh Camp. I know it is in Deputy Berry's constituency but it is the Army base I certainly know best over the past number of decades as a serving public representative, where people move from my constituency and actually live in the Curragh. As for the physical surrounds of the Curragh Camp, it is the largest base for serving members of the Defence Forces. The need for an overall land-use plan and the need to improve the built environment and have a land-use policy for the built environment and beyond will require a capital investment. This has been mooted in the past with only limited success. Obviously, it is not something that could be undertaken by the Department of Defence, or indeed, as a major project on the part of the Office of Public Works. It needs to be looked at and done, however. It seems to me that the commission might be an opportunity to dig deeper into how this might be undertaken.

Only yesterday, the Department of Rural and Community Development announced multimillion euro funding for rural regeneration in small towns, some of which are smaller than the population base of the Curragh Camp and some of which are larger. Mr. O'Driscoll will be aware of the LEADER programme, again, multimillion euro investments, from his time in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Then, there are urban renewal and town and village renewal schemes. None of these, however, seem to encompass the type of investment that to my view is needed in the Curragh to enhance the environment or infrastructure for the many families who live there or who will, perhaps, move there on various courses, as was mentioned earlier by Senator Craughwell. How best can we ensure the appropriate level of necessary investment or the joining together of various agencies or Departments that might be in a position to assist on that? Does Mr. O'Driscoll have any view on that?