Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We may well accept those points. I refer to the impact on members of the Defence Forces arising out of the reorganisation and, in particular, the difficulties for people originally based in Athlone. If someone lives west of the Shannon and north of a line from Longford to Galway, he or she spends 50% of time commuting, according to RACO. Additionally, the organisation says no serving officers in the early stages of their careers can consider settling in these areas. Ultimately, that will not be good for the personnel. Does the Minister accept these concerns in terms of his reorganisation package?

RACO meets biennially but the Minister was not at the conference. The Minister for Defence not attending the RACO conference is a bit like the Minister for Education and Skills not attending the teachers conferences. Is there a reason the Minister did not attend? Was he detained in his role as Minister for Justice and Equality?

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