Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State said in his opening remarks that he was satisfied that the best facilities are available. I do not understand how he could possibly say that when he does not know the condition of the barracks across the country because his Department has not reviewed them. If the Department allocated €35 million for refurbishment and building projects in 2017, how can the Minister of State stand over a budget of less than half that amount for this year? The Department spent €35 million in 2017 but the Minister of State has just said that it will spend only €14.2 million in 2018. How will that possibly be sufficient? How can the Minister of State justify that in view of the fact that there has been more money available to spend in the last couple of years? We know that the barracks are not up to scratch so how can the Minister of State justify a budget for this year that is less than half of what it was last year? The Minister cannot possibly stand in this Chamber and say that he is satisfied that the best facilities are available. Neither can he say that the accommodation available to those serving in the Defence Forces is up to scratch because it is not and if the Minister of State asks the serving members living in the accommodation, they will tell him that. A review needs to take place in order to determine the state of the buildings. The longer a building is let fall into dereliction, the more costly it will be to repair. In that context, it is actually in the interests of the Department's budget to fix things sooner rather than later.

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