Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail)

I compliment the two Government Senators who have joined with the Opposition in expressing concern over the Minister for Health's tardiness in attending the House. I see the Leader is cogitating deeply on this matter. When the ranks of Tuscany start to cheer, it is time we should listen. Will the Leader ask the Minister to attend the House earlier than the proposed attendance of 27 October because no knows who will be chiming out on tomorrow's Order of Business?

I support the calls of Deputy Darragh O'Brien and other Members on this side of the House for a debate on the threatened closures of various Army barracks. Last week, I raised this matter on the Order of Business, which was pooh-poohed by Government Members. Then it concerned one barracks but now it seems closure will affect three – Mullingar, Clonmel and Cavan. While this may be a rumour, that is how everything starts.

Army families in Clonmel, Mullingar and Cavan are concerned, with many of their children having already started school and college for the year, that they will be uprooted to the Curragh or Cathal Brugha barracks in Dublin. The Government must put people's minds at ease on this matter well before the Budget Statement.

An army is like fire insurance. One takes it for granted but when the house goes on fire one discovers some adverse clause in the fine print. Similarly, we do not want to discover some problem with our Army's infrastructure when it is too late. We are a small and proud nation. Our Defence Forces have served us well, both at home and abroad, since the foundation of the State. They, along with the Garda, had to put up with much abuse from other self-styled armies which, thanks to the Good Friday Agreement, have now ceased to be, we hope. Our Army personnel, both officers and NCOs, need better treatment than this uncertainty over the future of various barracks. Will the Leader seek clarification on the future of the various barracks in question?