Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I also speak to people on the ground. That is what one does as a public representative, as well as Minister for Defence. The change the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces have implemented in the past 15 years or so has been fundamental in respect of modernisation, performance and fitness improvement, changing the age profile, restructuring and reorganisation within barracks. It has been an extraordinarily successful change programme for which the Defence Forces should be commended. I can certainly understand the Deputy's point about a Green Paper and the preparation of a White Paper. However, when one is trying to finalise a White Paper on the back of a Green Paper, it takes time. This does not mean that in the interim, structures within the Defence Forces should not be modernised, changed and adapted to new realities, which is what has been happening.

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