Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail)

I support Senator D'Arcy's suggestion and I compliment him on his generosity of intent in this regard. It is a great idea to thank a former President who has given such service to the State. She enjoys the affection and appreciation of all the people, irrespective of politics or religion, and she is a symbol of sincerity, courage and hope. Doing what the Senator suggests will remind us of what is expected of public figures in the future.

We had a debate not so long ago on the closure of several Army barracks. The Minister of State attended the House for the debate, which was not the most edifying debate, but those things happens. He indicated at the time that a decision had not been made. Since then all the towns that are likely to be affected have made their case. I accompanied a delegation from Clonmel to meet the Minister for Defence and, last week, the people of Clonmel delivered a petition of 8,000 signatures to him asking that he reconsider any negative decision that might be made. The main argument is that there is no saving involved in the closure of the barracks.

It will cause considerable upheaval among the families involved. In the case of Clonmel, for instance, the husbands and fathers will have to travel to the barracks in Limerick. The cost of this is not being taken into account and, where there are young families, children will be unnecessarily denied the company and support of their fathers throughout the week. There will be further expenditure in Limerick. I am not too sure where the decision is coming from. It certainly does not result in savings and will have a considerable social impact on the towns involved. Clonmel will lose €10 million per year. The decision results in the opposite of savings in that there will be huge losses involved. I appeal to the Leader, at this late hour and irrespective of whether decisions are made, to revisit this issue because of the social and economic impact. We could never justify the closure and would regret such a negative decision.