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

That knowledge is not readily available without our Permanent Defence Force being based locally. At different times, that knowledge and the work of our Defence Forces played a critical role not just in day-to-day security matters but in our State's work in keeping our country free of animal diseases over the decades when there were outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease and BSE that threatened our farming and food industries. We must never underestimate the importance of local knowledge and the advantage of decision-making by personnel at local level. Dún Uí Néill has accommodation for more than 200 personnel with appropriate equipment and a helicopter base

By and large, that Army installation is totally intact and in good order. It could be used, at least initially, as a forward-operating base.

The Tánaiste, and Deputies Durkan, Berry and Stanton and I have previously discussed in the House the link between recruitment and an Army presence in a town. We had a long Army tradition in my home town of Cavan, where generation after generation enlisted in the Permanent Defence Force and served our country well both at home and abroad. The Army presence is also critical in increasing our recruitment and retention.

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