Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I compliment my party colleague, Deputy Lisa Chambers, on tabling this very important motion. It is a comprehensive motion, and those of us who participate in the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence, and Deputy Noel Grealish is a member, know Deputy Lisa Chambers has consistently highlighted the issues of concern to the Permanent Defence Force and to us as a society. There is an obvious need, as the motion points out, for recruitment and retention of personnel. I am told quite a number of people leave the Permanent Defence Force and join the British Army. I do not know whether this is a case of pay and lack of remuneration but I sincerely hope it can be addressed. Other speakers have outlined the need for better pay and conditions. I sincerely hope these issues can be addressed. There is no point in all of us speaking about the value, importance and great standing of the Permanent Defence Force if it is not adequately resourced.

Deputy Noel Grealish quite rightly pointed out the reorganisation of the Defence Forces in 2012 and 2013. At the time, the Minister of State participated in some of the debates in the Dáil as Government Chief Whip. We trenchantly argued against the closure of Dún Uí Néill barracks in Cavan and other barracks. If we take the northern half of the country, we have one barracks in Finner, south Donegal, and the only other barracks along the Border is Aiken barracks in Dundalk. We have a huge central Border area with no Army military installation. This was a very retrograde step. It was deplorable that the then Government decided to close the most modern purpose-built barracks in Europe. The Minister of State may recall, and the statistics are available to him, it was the most efficient barracks. It was the cheapest to run because of modern facilities and good management. It was a very backward step for the Permanent Defence Force that Dún Uí Néill barracks was closed at the time.

Last week at the Estimates meeting, the Minister of State will recall we discussed participation by Irish Permanent Defence Force members with the United Nations. At the meeting, Deputy Lisa Chambers proposed we should have a full debate in the Dáil, on the service by the Defence Forces with the United Nations. I supported this proposal, as did all other committee members. The most recent report on this applies to 2015. We do not have discussions in the House near often enough on the Defence Forces and their importance, their role and the respect in which we all hold them. I sincerely hope we can have this debate at an early date, with the agreement of all the party Whips.

All of us are proud of the very considerable role played by members of the Permanent Defence Force in United Nations missions in many difficult and troubled areas of the world. One of the best public occasions I attended as a public representative was a number of years ago, in my county town of Cavan, at the official ceremony marking the departure of a large number of people to Lebanon at Dún Uí Néill Army barracks.

It was a magnificent occasion. The formal part of the proceedings for the departure was held in Cavan town. Thousands of people turned out to show their appreciation of the role those people would go on to play in troubled places in the world and the role so many people from our own area have played in peacekeeping missions over the years. It is an area in which we need to continue to have full involvement.

The Minister of State will also recall that at the committee in the past year we have discussed the lack of numbers in the Reserve Defence Force on a number of occasions. The submission made by the Reserve Defence Force Representative Association painted a very grim picture with regard to the maladministration, the way recruitment to the Reserve Defence Force is conducted and the delay in inducting people into the Reserve Defence Force. We sincerely hope those issues which were very well amplified by the president of the association and the general secretary will be addressed without delay. The Reserve Defence Force Representative Association has played a very important role in society over the years. I consistently highlight the fact that I know many young people who would have been vulnerable at the time to be targeted by paramilitary groups and other thugs. The Reserve Defence Force Representative Association provided an outlet to those young people who were vulnerable and who went on to play a meaningful and important role in society. There is a role for the Reserve Defence Force Representative Association and I sincerely hope it will be treated with the respect that it deserves.

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