Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

Thankfully, that is all over now. That is a very important issue. We must now reorganise our Defence Forces in a practical and realistic way. Irrespective of whether Deputy Smith believes it, we all know change must happen. Change is never easy but we must talk about the positives. In the reconstruction taking place, at least 500 young people will have the opportunity to become full-time members of the Defence Forces in the next year or so. That is very positive and constructive. That is what this Government is doing. It is making those decisions in light of that.

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