Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister said I was playing politics. It was a political decision by his Government to close the barracks over four years ago. Since then, precious little has happened. The Minister said he wrote to the various stakeholders. During the past four years, how many times have the Minister or his officials met the CEO of Westmeath County Council regarding the potential future use of the barracks?

The Minister has talked about a policy of having the Reserve Defence Force training with the Permanent Defence Force. The Permanent Defence Force is not training in a warehouse in Clonmore Industrial Estate, where the Department is paying €30,000 per annum for the Reserve Defence Force training in Mullingar. The Government is wasting €30,000 paying a private landlord while some of the barracks remains unused.

After four years, what analysis, research or audit has been carried out on the future use of the barracks? As I asked at the beginning, have the Minister, his party or the Government prepared a sustainable plan for the long-term use of the barracks?

The Minister has not answered my question.

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