Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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4. To ask the Minister for Defence his plans for the future of Custume Barracks, Athlone, County Westmeath; the number of Defence Forces personnel exclusively based there; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34811/14]

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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This question is straightforward and seeks to establish the Minister's plans for the future of Custume Barracks. However, I put it against the background of the extraordinary decision taken by his predecessor as Minister for Defence, Deputy Alan Shatter, who, at the same time as announcing a Green Paper on the future of the Defence Forces, announced the disestablishment of the 4th Western Brigade and, effectively, the downgrading of Custume Barracks. This has come as a blow to the Defence Forces in general and, in particular, the many people throughout the midlands and west who have been associated with the Defence Forces and Custume Barracks.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Custume Barracks is and will continue to be an important operational military barracks. The military authorities have confirmed that the current strength of personnel in Custume Barracks, Athlone is 1,038. Incidentally, that is significantly greater than when the Government took office. It includes personnel attending training courses in Custume Barracks. I am advised that the establishment for units based in Custume Barracks is 995, that is, approximately 1,000 people. While the number serving in the barracks will remain in the order of 1,000, it should be noted that numbers, obviously, will vary from time to time. As with any barracks, there is a constant through-flow of personnel in and out. This is because military service involves personnel moving into and out of particular postings as they serve at home and overseas, receive training and undergo educational and career development courses.

I was asked the question, when I visited it the other day, as to my commitment and that of the Government to the barracks. There are no plans for any downgrading of the barracks in Athlone. The Government perceives it to be a highly significant facility that operationally will remain a major part of the Defence Forces at home, as well as for preparing troops to go abroad. That is why the 46th Battalion which I hope will be replacing the 44th Battalion in the UNDOF mission in the next month or so will be leaving from that barracks.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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I must disagree with the Minister a little on the figures. According to my briefing note, on 30 November 2012 there were 1,441 permanent positions at Custume Barracks. These included personnel who had relocated from Longford in 2009 and Cavan and Mullingar in 2012. The disestablishment of the Western Brigade and the downgrading of Custume Barracks have been a disaster for the Defence Forces and, in particular, the military Permanent Defence Force and the Reserve alike. It was a bad decision for military and strategic security reasons. The two remaining Army brigade headquarters, located in Dublin and Cork, are in two geographical extremities. From a Defence Forces operational standpoint, the entire border with Northern Ireland is now overseen from Rathmines, County Dublin. A regional Army brigade headquarters in Athlone makes essential military sense. Athlone is the geographical centre of the country, equidistant from east and west and within easy reach of the centre point of the Border.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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We must agree to differ on this point. The advice I have from the Defence Forces is that the restructured brigade structure in Ireland is working very well and that there have not been more than 1,400 troops in this barracks since the 1990s. Therefore, the numbers there currently are stronger than has been the case in the recent past. I accept, of course, that the restructuring of the brigade structure, if one wishes to call it that, has resulted in certain people being unhappy. However, it came as a recommendation from the Defence Forces and has resulted in an improved structure and greater efficiency. Certainly, no one within the Defence Forces of whom I am aware seeks to reverse the clock in this regard. As for Custume Barracks, from what I have seen, the motivation and the standards being set there are better now than they have been in many years.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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I do not doubt that very high standards are set in Custume Barracks. Moreover, I do not doubt the commitment of the personnel there. However, I have also visited counties Westmeath and Roscommon and spoken to people who have been affected by the particular changes made. This change was all the more extraordinary, in that the Minister's predecessor had launched a discussion paper on the future of the Defence Forces, yet at the time he was launching it, he made one of the most fundamental and radical changes that might be made to the entire structure of the Defence Forces. Far from it leading to greater efficiencies, my information is that vastly increased costs are involved in ferrying people around the country in buses that are carrying numbers of personnel in order that necessary duties can be fulfilled. When he speaks to people on the ground, as distinct from speaking to the military authorities who will be careful in what they say to a Minister for Defence, the Minister will find the response may be quite different.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I also speak to people on the ground. That is what one does as a public representative, as well as Minister for Defence. The change the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces have implemented in the past 15 years or so has been fundamental in respect of modernisation, performance and fitness improvement, changing the age profile, restructuring and reorganisation within barracks. It has been an extraordinarily successful change programme for which the Defence Forces should be commended. I can certainly understand the Deputy's point about a Green Paper and the preparation of a White Paper. However, when one is trying to finalise a White Paper on the back of a Green Paper, it takes time. This does not mean that in the interim, structures within the Defence Forces should not be modernised, changed and adapted to new realities, which is what has been happening.