Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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6. To ask the Minister for Defence if a stock-take of unused Defence Forces property has been conducted; the amount of property that has been disposed of by transfer to other State bodies or by way of private sale; the plans that exist for the remainder; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1205/15]

Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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The Minister's Department clearly has a considerable surplus of property in its portfolio, although some of it has been disposed of by transfer to other State bodies at a relatively nominal amount. Some of the property has been sold privately. There are other elements which lie in an under-utilised state, which is a shame, and I wonder where the Department is with such surplus Defence Forces property.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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A review and update of my Department’s property portfolio is carried out on a regular basis. Where properties have been identified as being surplus to military requirements, procedures are put in place for their disposal. In accordance with Government policy, the normal procedure is that all properties for disposal are in the first instance offered for sale to other State bodies and Government agencies. Where no interest is registered from the State sector, the properties are generally then put on the open market to be sold by public tender or public auction.

My Department has been engaged on an ongoing programme of barrack consolidation since 1998 that has resulted in the closure of 14 military barracks. Sales have been fully completed on nine of these properties. Of those sales, seven properties, including part of Longford Barracks, have been sold within the public sector and two have been sold to private individuals. The sale of a further three barracks, at Castlebar, Lifford and Clonmel, as well as a part of Longford Barracks, to the public sector has been agreed and that is expected to be completed within weeks. Of the two remaining properties, McKee Barracks is expected to be put up for public auction in the second quarter of 2015 and Mullingar Barracks is currently being used by An Garda Síochána, the Customs Service and a number of local organisations, including Westmeath GAA. Discussions are also ongoing with a number of interested parties regarding the future use of Mullingar Barracks.

In addition, a number of other properties, including married quarters and Reserve Defence Force premises, have also been sold. In the case of married quarters which are outside military installations, the majority were sold to the occupiers and members of the Defence Forces. Over 20 Reserve Defence Force premises have been sold since 1998. Three were sold to local authorities and one to a State agency, with the remaining sold to private individuals. There are a number of other smaller properties remaining, which are being prepared for future disposal. I hope that gives a general picture.

Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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It is fairly general, and I suppose the devil is in the detail in many instances.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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There is not always a devil.

Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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Is there not? I do not know, but I will take the Minister's word on that. I am thinking in particular of the Curragh Camp in the context of the housing crisis in the State, as well as the medical crisis. There are accommodation units and a hospital available there which are idle.

With a small amount of investment, they could be returned to being habitable dwellings for Defence Forces personnel who, as we know, are among the lowest paid public sector workers. We know that a number of families are living in some of those homes now under fear of eviction but we also know that many soldiers, without adequate accommodation, sleep in their cars. Deputy Wallace and I visited the Curragh Camp on a number of occasions. Deputy Wallace, with his builder's hat, was able to look at the state of some of those buildings. They are in considerable shape and they do not require an enormous amount of investment to make them usable. Unless the State looks at this and at making them available, we are involved in a sort of State-sponsored vandalism by allowing them to remain derelict because there are important uses to which they could be put rather than letting them diminish and die.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I can assure the Deputy that we are not going to let anything diminish and die. If she looks at what the Defence Forces have been doing proactively in regard to homelessness in Dublin, for example, she will see that we have made a former military hospital available for shelter for rough sleepers. That has been a very successful initiative and we have had between 20 and 30 people staying in that accommodation most evenings over recent weeks. The Defence Forces have shown a willingness to be proactive and open-minded in terms of how we can use vacant buildings and infrastructure, which would previously have been of use to the Defence Forces but which now may not be, for other purposes in terms of assisting Government and other NGOs with solving difficult problems. We will continue to do that. Where there is infrastructure linked to barracks that are no longer of strategic use, of course, we have an obligation, first and foremost, to check whether there are other State agencies and State bodies which could use them effectively and, if so, whether we should transfer them. If there is no strategic use, then we should look to sell them to the private sector in order that we can raise resources that can be reinvested in terms of improving Defence Forces infrastructure or other public spending.

Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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I am well aware of the good work of the Defence Forces in terms of property in Dublin. I specifically raised the issue, however, of property in Kildare. Why is the hospital in the Curragh Camp, which is in quite good shape but requires a bit of work, not been put to use, for example, as homeless accommodation? Why could the prison in that area, which was the subject of quite considerable investment, not be opened up for homeless accommodation, for example?

The Minister's predecessor, Deputy Shatter, dismissed the idea of making available those habitable units in that area for families who are in dire need of accommodation, rejecting the offer of Deputy Wallace to have a look at them and evaluate the surveys he had done. Will the Minister look at that? If he really believes what he is saying, then he will be proactive in terms of the idea of an interdepartmental team being assembled, comprising the Departments of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Health and so on, to look at the property he has in his portfolio to see how other agencies of the State could benefit from that. As it stands, it is probably a year since we were actively engaged in this discussion with the former Minister. In that year, all that has happened is that the families who are under fear of eviction are still under fear of eviction and none the wiser in that area and other properties are still idle and are in far worse shape now than they were a year ago when we raised this issue and made the offer. If the Minister is serious, I would put it to him that he might initiate one of the-----

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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On a general point, we are reviewing the assets of the Defence Forces and the Department of Defence all the time to try to get value for money for them, if they are not of strategic use to the Defence Forces, and to look to other State bodies to try to make full use of them. There are multiple examples of that in terms of barracks throughout the country. I have visited many of them and I have spoken to county managers when there is an interest from local authorities, for example, in Clonmel. We are doing what the Deputy said but she is talking about a specific case in Kildare and, to be honest, I would need to get a more detailed briefing on what is available and is not of strategic use to the Defence Forces.

We need to be careful as well in that the Defence Forces are primarily about providing defence to the State and they have a core role there.

We are not experts in providing shelter accommodation for people who are homeless. We should work with agents of the State who are. We did that quite successfully in Dublin in response to a difficult situation in the build-up to Christmas. We will examine this with an open mind but the Defence Forces must first and foremost focus on their own role in defending the State. Where there are difficulties concerning occupation of Defence Forces property by former Defence Force personnel, we must treat people fairly and at the same time ensure that the State gets value for money.