Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

To answer the first of Deputy Costello's questions, no agreement has been entered into by, or on behalf of, the Department with any third party. The matter was subject of an application to the local authority for planning permission and that permission, subject to conditions, was granted some time ago. One of the conditions stipulated that the development must be carried out solely within the property owned by the applicant — which one would expect — and that no part of the development should encroach on the rights of adjoining property owners without prior consent of the owner. I presume this refers to the Department of Defence. My Department does not intend to pursue this proposal. There is no agreement in place. Refurbishment works were carried out in that building this year and money has been allocated for further works next year. There are no plans to sell, lease, loan, or otherwise dispose of any part of the property to any third party.

I understand the point the Deputy is making about integration between the Permanent and Reserve Defence Force. There are 1,500 wet suits for each of the four formations. Therefore, there are some 6,000 suits for a total reserve complement of approximately 9,500 members. It is a matter of acquiring an additional 3,500 wetsuits. I will look favourably on this. I am currently engaged in detailed and difficult discussions on the Estimates with the Minister for Finance. I estimate the expenditure on the additional wet suits would range from €1.25 million to €1.5 million. I will make the case for it to the Minister for Finance.

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