Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

It is unfortunate that the Minister, Deputy Shatter, is not here because my question goes to the very heart of his style of ministry. The Minister of State, Deputy Kehoe, spoke of consultation in terms of the Croke Park agreement, but this was announced before anybody in PDFORRA or RACO was told about it and before any Members were told about it.

There are no savings to be made, as Deputy Kehoe stated in his response. I struggle to see where reducing from three brigades to two will result in efficiencies or a better and more efficiently managed Army. It is not as if we had a huge force that would be managed better in two rather than in three brigades.

It would have been far better to have gone into detail with PDFORRA and RACO and, I suspect, with Army management in terms of the ramifications of this decision before announcing it in such a manner.

I will proudly speak in favour of retaining the Western Brigade. It has performed a significant service, at home and abroad, for many years and many of its members are serving as we speak in the Lebanon. Deputy Kehoe saw them off a few weeks ago.

There is no efficiency immediately apparent in this decision. Deputy Kehoe stated it is not a cost decision. It is a bad day's work on the part of the Minister to undermine the morale of the Army and of the brigades in question by making this decision in the manner in which it was made.

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