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

As for the consultation on this, I have been to virtually every barracks in the country and have asked the Defence Forces to put a balanced selection of people into a room with me. I have taken questions for a couple of hours in most cases. That includes Donegal, Galway, Cork, Athlone, Dublin and the Curragh. We have met as many Defence Forces personnel as we possibly can to explain to them what we are trying to do, the rationale for upsizing significantly, not downsizing or rationalising, the Defence Forces in the years ahead, how we will do that restructuring, how we will bring about a new culture in the Defence Forces and how both the policy certainty and the funding certainty that are needed will be provided by the Government. It has been a really good process. We have encouraged Defence Forces personnel to be blunt and honest about their frustrations and concerns as well as their ambitions for the future of an organisation to which they are deeply committed. That has been a good process, and the personnel are very much involved and know exactly what is happening.

In response to Deputy Ó Cuív's questions, we are looking at a naval docking facility on both the east coast and the west coast. It makes sense for lots of reasons. We are looking at what is called double crewing for ships in the future, meaning many more people in the Naval Service but also less time at sea and more time for the ships at sea. In order to do that well, we have to have a base - a mini base, if you will - on the west coast, serving the west coast and north-west coast, and on the east coast, serving the Irish Sea. However, we have not decided on locations for that yet.

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