Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

Later Questions deal with the President's visit to our troops in Lebanon. I accompanied the President on her visit to Lebanon. It was a worthwhile and informative visit. I do not want to take up the time allocated to this question to address that issue other than to say it was a great pleasure to accompany the President and Senator McAleese on that visit and to see at firsthand the extraordinary work she does and the warmth she shows to our troops who are engaged in peacekeeping and to everyone she meets. The President makes an extraordinary impression on those she meets, including on members of the Lebanese Government during our meeting with them.

On the closure of barracks, at the request of Fine Gael colleagues I met with groups from the areas mentioned in the media in respect of barrack closures. Our meetings last week were detailed, lengthy and considered. I thank the groups who met with me. We had a worthwhile and constructive engagement. I listened carefully to all that they had to say. As I have stated previously in the House, no final decisions have been made. The concerns expressed to me by the groups will feed into the process in which we are currently engaged. I explained to the groups, as I did to Members of this House, the enormous financial constraints under the Government is operating. My obligation as Minister for Defence is not merely to identify savings that can be achieved next year and the years following in order to meet our EU-IMF obligations but to ensure the resources we have are used wisely and in a manner that ensures the Defence Forces can to the maximum extent possible meet its obligations as a civil authority and in international missions in which it is engaged.

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