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

I thank the Minister. I welcome the Minister's renewed commitment, or it would be much fairer to say his continued commitment, to the development of an electric vehicle centre of excellence in Columb Barracks. I welcome that the Minister considers that it can proceed, despite what is happening in the barracks at the moment.

Could the Minister use his position of influence within the Government to ensure that instead of putting tents into the square in the middle, that we look at renovating the existing buildings? They are protected structures and they will have to be maintained. They will offer a very good complementary facility to any future educational institution there in terms of living space for students. In the meantime, they can be used to support this country's response to the refugee crisis. The buildings are in relatively good order, and they could be brought into a habitable state relatively easily and they would be complementary to the further development of the barracks in the future.

See this speech in context