Nicky McFadden (Fine Gael)

As a native of a garrison town, I welcome the Minister. There were three Army barracks in counties Longford and Westmeath until, sadly, the barracks in Longford was closed earlier this year. Although I opposed that decision tooth and nail, I have to accept it and move on. I acknowledge that it is taking a great toll on staff to have to travel 20 miles from Longford to their new workplace every day.

As my grandfather was a sergeant major in Athlone until he retired in the late 1950s, I have a keen and sincere affinity with the Defence Forces. Some 200 members of the Defence Forces are based in the Army barracks in Mullingar, the only remaining artillery barracks in the country. Over 600 members of the Defence Forces are based in Athlone. The two institutions form the mainstay of the two towns and I cannot over-emphasise their importance to the local economies. I remind the Minister, in case he is thinking of organising FCA camps, training for overseas missions or other such events, that the military authorities in Mullingar are ready, willing and able to accommodate a further 200 troops.

The Irish Army which has served all over the world is regarded with great respect everywhere. Irish troops are serving in Chad and Kosovo. There are small deployments in Afghanistan, Western Sahara, Congo, the Ivory Coast, the military headquarters in Brussels, Vienna, Belgrade and Georgia. I have probably forgotten some places where they are serving. We are recognised as being reliable and respected across the world. I commend the resources put into the Defence Forces by the Department.

The Bill provides that all deployments should have Government and Dáil approval and must operate under a UN mandate. I welcome the triple lock mechanism that governs the participation of our Defence Forces in all deployments overseas. The Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006 provided the legislative authority for Irish troops to train abroad, take part in humanitarian operations and participate in Nordic Battlegroup missions. Senator O'Toole spoke about our Christian ethos. When I was researching for this debate, I looked at the Petersberg Tasks, which I believe come under a Christian ethos, including the idea of humanitarianism, rescue tasks, peacekeeping and crisis management. All these areas represent extending the hand of friendship and support to those less well off in the world who are struggling. I feel very comfortable in supporting the Bill from that point of view. It is logical and practical and allows the State to engage in procurement that will strengthen capacity thereby facilitating our Permanent Defence Force participating in a safe way in United Nations-mandated missions.

Capacity building and training can only benefit the Defence Forces. We need to consider the morale of our troops. They all want to work hard, be trained properly and have appropriate facilities. The supply of the best and safest equipment can only be welcomed. I ask the Minister to continue to invest so that our equipment is the best. Following from the White Paper in the past ten years the latest equipment has been provided, including APCs and LPAVs coming on stream. We have new helicopters and uniforms. We are all aware of the very hot and humid conditions our troops have needed to endure in Chad. They have had the proper uniforms etc. allowing them to participate in these missions. I urge the Minister to continue with this funding stream even in these difficult times and not to allow the Defence Forces very high standards to diminish.

Earlier I spoke about morale. Other Senators spoke about how our soldiers are struggling in these very straitened and difficult times. From speaking to those who come to my clinics I am only too well aware that they depend on family income supplement to make ends meet. I ask the Minister to be aware of this because they are civil servants and are absolutely stymied by not being able to participate in a strike. It is incumbent on us to look out for and watch over these people. These soldiers are the mainstay of our towns. They are feeling the pinch like everybody else but have very little voice. I am also concerned about the brain drain with the fear of tax on retirement lump sums. I am aware of many people who are retiring. I ask the Minister to try to find ways to keep the crème de la crème within the Defence Forces.

I also acknowledge the major community involvement of the Defence Forces. Last week I attended a fund-raising concert in Mullingar organised by the Mullingar Army barracks for the hospice. Last year it was the stroke fund. An amazing amount of community events take place in Athlone also. I commend the Bill which is a mechanism to provide for the Army to co-operate in missions associated with the European Defence Agency and I entirely welcome it.