Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome that the Leader has allocated an hour and a half today to discuss Brexit. I call on him to consider having a rolling debate on the matter and invite the various Ministers who will primarily be affected, such as the Ministers for Finance, Justice and Equality, Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Education and Skills and Defence to the House. It would be important to hear from those Ministers and others about their plans for Brexit when it occurs.

I live only eight miles from the Border, where six of the nine counties in Ulster are governed by Britain. Some three years ago, the most modern army barracks in Europe and the only purpose-built army barracks in the history of the State was closed by the former Minister, Alan Shatter, and the previous Government. On that occasion I, along with other colleagues in the Lower House, raised concerns, not only about the personnel based there being deployed to various other barracks three hours' commute away but also the security implications for the Border area. Dissident republicans are still very active in the area. Cross-Border crime is, unfortunately, on the increase. As a result of Brexit, the importance of the barracks has come back into sharp focus.

We do not know what will happen regarding the security of our Border, while it still exists. I call on the Leader to bring the Minister for Defence before the House as a matter of urgency to outline his plans, if any, to reopen the barracks. I urge him to do so before it is dismantled. It was been sold in a Houdini trick, whereby one Department took it over from another. That was supposed to save money for the State, but it now costs more to maintain it than when it was occupied.

I concur with everything Senator Landy said about county and city councillors and their pay and conditions. Before the summer recess the House passed an all-party motion. We met on one occasion with the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and had a very constructive meeting. I would hate to think that the county and city councillors of the country will become pawns in a potential leadership battle within Fine Gael or victims of pay demands by other unions within the public sector. I echo the call for the committee to meet again as a matter of urgency and that we work with our colleagues in LAMA and the AILG to see what we can do to improve the pay and conditions of county and city councillors.