Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)

Although the Minister is not spelling it out, it sounds as if the dye is already cast from his point of view in that he will go ahead with the proposed barrack closures. If that is not the case, will he clarify his recommendations or the process within which this review will take place that will lead him to make a decision on this? The military personnel, their families and the towns associated with those barracks do not want the barracks to close or the anxiety that would cause. They do not want to be uprooted and the longer distances military personnel would have to travel would result in them being away from their families for a longer time. Taking account of the totality of matters, they seriously question what economic advantage could be gained from the closure of these barracks. From the Minister's point of view, it seems the dye is cast and that is a cause of concern because it seems to be very like what is happening with our local hospitals. Government thinking seems to be to centralise and close down small and local services as in the case of the health service. That seems to be the Minister's intention when it comes to small local barracks, regardless of the consequences for the military personnel, their families and the towns associated with them.

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