James Heffernan (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State. I listened with interest to the contributions from Opposition Members. They were difficult to swallow at times. In 1998, Castleblayney military post, Clancy Barracks in Dublin, Devoy Barracks in Naas, Fitzgerald Camp in Fermoy, Magee Barracks in Kildare and Murphy Barracks in Ballincollig were closed. Ten years later, in 2008, Rockhill House in Letterkenny, Lifford military post, Connolly Barracks in Longford and Monaghan military post were closed. Ten barracks have been closed since 1998 under Fianna Fáil's watch.

Magee Barracks was a 200-soldier garrison in the heart of Kildare town. The barracks was closed by the then Minister for Defence, former Deputy Michael Smith, along with five others. This was at the height of the boom. The closure has cost more in security and maintenance than any saving that was made. It is now no longer an outpost for soldiers but a haven for anti-social behaviour, drinking, drug taking and arson. A huge opportunity was lost by that Government to provide housing, community facilities, a school, playground and so forth in the centre of Kildare town. I did not hear any of the Fianna Fáil representatives making a case for Magee Barracks or any of the others at the time. Yet here we are this evening debating this motion in Private Members' time, with Fianna Fáil Members shedding crocodile tears before any decision has been made. Who are they trying to fool with these antics? Then we hear the Sinn Féin Members empathising with soldiers and gardaí. Come on, lads.

This appears to be a shift in tactics on the part of the Opposition, particularly Fianna Fáil. A few weeks ago I noticed two Fianna Fáil Deputies marching shoulder to shoulder with the accident and emergency nurses in Limerick. Those two Deputies had done nothing in six years to help alleviate the problem there. There they were, however, as bold as brass as they marched up and down the road with the nurses. This motion and that type of behaviour are just not credible. I certainly will not support the motion.