Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We will not withdraw from any legal proceedings and those will continue, because this situation has been going on for quite some time. It is my Department's policy to review each overholder's situation on a case-by-case basis. As each case is different, I cannot pre-empt how overholders that the Deputy has grouped together will be dealt with. As I have already mentioned, both the cost of renovation of the properties and the security issues surrounding civilian occupation of quarters within the military barracks present problems which are difficult to overcome.

However, I have taken the Deputy's views on board. There has been a huge amount of consultation between the Department and the residents in the Curragh. Numerous meetings have taken place over quite some time and I understand that Deputies from all sides of the House have been in contact with the Department raising the concerns of some of the residents there. This question goes back to the fact that it has always been a condition that when one retires from the Defence Forces, one is no longer a resident or entitled to a house. That has been the case and it has never been hidden from any member of the Defence Forces who had the right to a property.

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