Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

During my period as Minister for Defence I had the pleasure of seeing the tremendous work carried out by the FCA, the pride which personnel had in being members of the FCA and the pride in which the community held these personnel during their service. I wish to discuss possible accommodation for the Reserve Defence Force, RDF, in Dún Laoghaire.

I was appalled to read in The Sunday Tribune that almost 40% of the membership of the Reserve Defence Force has left the force in the past four years. Almost 5,000 people have resigned from the RDF since 2003. It now has only 8,648 members compared with 13,532 in 2003. We discuss motivating young people in particular to carry out voluntary work and these are alarming statistics.

B company 62nd reserve infantry battalion in Dún Laoghaire has been without its own headquarters and training centre since it was evicted from the coastguard station in Dún Laoghaire on 1 May 2006 after 55 years in this location. According to the RDF implementation plan, B company was to have its headquarters and training centre in Dún Laoghaire. The Minister promised no centre would be closed. However, this is clearly not the case.

B company has approximately 40 personnel and its challenge is to grow to 133. Without a permanent base in Dún Laoghaire this challenge will not be realised and the unit will eventually die. At present, B company headquarters is based in Bray and personnel parade between Bray and Cathal Brugha barracks. New recruits are expected to go to Bray, adding an hour each way to their journeys. No one seems to care about the negative impact on the volunteers of B company losing its base.

When B company was evicted from the coastguard station in Dún Laoghaire, through no fault of the local unit, it made every effort to find an alternative location to grow and develop the unit. Two locations were identified, namely, the Maritime Museum and the scout's den in Seapoint. The Maritime Museum was rejected on health and safety grounds despite the fact it is undergoing radical refurbishment which will be completed in 2009. I understand the scout's den in Seapoint was rejected because of the cost of rent.

Recently, I tabled two parliamentary questions, one in September and one in November asking what is being done about finding an alternative permanent location for B company. The replies I received were extremely scant. However, the latest one states arrangements are in place to facilitate training at Oaklands College in Stillorgan. This accommodation is extremely limited. It is not adequate for a dedicated RDF recruiting and training centre. It consists of two classrooms which are not available during the day and the two full-time members of the Permanent Defence Force assigned to B company do not have accommodation.

I have a number of questions for the Minister who, unfortunately, is not here. Is he committed to growing the Reserve Defence Force in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown and respecting the tradition of voluntary military service from communities in the area through the decades? How does the Minister intend to honour his commitment to ensure B company has a permanent home from which it can grow and develop? How does he intend to give evidence of this commitment and when will progress be seen to be made in the short term? What are his long-term plans for a base in the area? If 40 personnel give up their time to the Reserve Defence Force, how does the Minister value this time commitment to voluntary public service?

Numerous other issues are raised but time prevents me from outlining them. Is voluntary public service no longer valued? Here are people prepared to give their service to society and after 55 years in their permanent residence in Dún Laoghaire they are nomads with no proper facilities. My suggestion to the Minister is that on a temporary basis the scout's den in Seapoint, which is quite close to Dún Laoghaire, should be used. When the refurbishment of the Maritime Museum is complete, the trustees of the Maritime Museum are prepared to give permanent facilities to the Reserve Defence Force in the centre of Dún Laoghaire, which is ideal. Will the Minister give this commitment? My suggestion is reasonable and will ensure B company can grow.

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