Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I hope the Deputy will not take anything more from my responding "Yes" to what he said. I agree with what he said. It is important we maintain the capabilities of the Defence Forces, the numbers for which are close to 9,500, to reflect the numbers in the 1970s. It is important to ensure we can meet our international obligations and that the Defence Forces can adequately respond to assist the civil power, where necessary, in the context of the broad range of activities in which they engage such as those mentioned by Deputy Naughten, including assisting in dealing with the impact of climatic conditions that create unexpected emergencies. The Defence Forces play a role, for example, in security matters in Portlaoise Prison. They also perform a broad range of roles domestically, not all of which the public would necessarily be aware of. My challenge in the years ahead will be to sustain their capabilities within the reduced resource envelope generally available to the Government. I agree with Deputy Durkan's statement that it is important that we do so. It is my task to try to achieve this and I would appreciate support from all Members of the House in being successful in that task.

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