Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Noel Grealish for sharing time and I compliment Fianna Fáil on tabling the motion.

We need to salute the soldiers throughout the country and the work they do. We have seen the work they have done rescuing people in foreign lands. It would make one proud to be Irish. They have worked with the United Nations on peacekeeping duties for many years and the Irish soldiers have stood out.

It is important to ensure the number of personnel is maintained. There is a shortage of pilots. I know we cannot train pilots overnight, but I question the figures I hear on how much it costs to train them. We need contracts to keep them in the Defence Forces to recover the cost of training. Figures of €1 million and €1.2 million are thrown about, given everything that is involved. We need to ensure we entice these people to stay in the Defence Forces because they are important. Some pilots may go to foreign lands for a while. We are stuck for personnel and the Army should be open. We should ensure there is a transparent way to allow people to return to the Defence Forces. I hope the Minister of State will address this issue.

Last year when flooding was at high peak, in fairness to the Army it went to various places which were in trouble. When an area in County Roscommon was under pressure the Army came from Galway but Athlone was up the road. Deputy Noel Grealish stated that for some duties personnel travelled from the four corners of Ireland to Dublin, which makes it a little nonsensical. Some thinking needs to be done or something needs to be sorted out.

Athlone barracks has been discussed. The air ambulance is in Athlone, and this has been helpful, but it cannot fly at night which is an awful drawback. If a hospital in a county is closed, and for all citizens in Ireland, it is important this facility is there day or night so if someone is badly injured or has to be rushed to a distant hospital in an emergency we have helicopters which will do this. The Department of Defence was brought into this, but perhaps it should be the Department of Health which should look after it. As the Minister of State has responsibility, I ask him to examine this issue.

The numbers in Athlone barracks need to be kept stable. It is a rural part of Ireland, no more than Galway, Donegal and other places, and it is important that Army bases are held and the numbers are maintained. We do not know what it will be like in six months time or two years time, when the Brexit talks have finished. Will we be back to the same ding dong as before? We must ensure we have an Army that is ready at any given time. I know there is not money to throw at everything, and I am not unrealistic, but we need to ensure as a nation we put the best possible resources into the Army.

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