Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of the Minister for Defence, Deputy Willie O'Dea.

The consolidation of the Defence Forces formations into a smaller number of locations is a key objective of the White Paper on Defence 2000. The dispersal of personnel over an extended number of locations is an impediment to essential collective training. It also imposes increased and unnecessary overheads on the Defence Forces in barrack management, administration, maintenance and security.

The consolidation process is designed to facilitate higher training standards, while also freeing up under-utilised resources and personnel for operational duties. The funding previously realised from the disposal of surplus barracks and properties has, together with pay savings——

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