Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Acting Leader on taking the Chair today. I join with her and colleagues in wishing everybody a happy St. Brigid's Day, Lá Fhéile Bríde. We are all very proud of our association with St. Brigid where I live in County Kildare. We recently learned, following a very successful campaign by so many in this House and, indeed, the Lower House, that we will celebrate a public holiday from next year. It is, therefore, timely to send out an invitation to one and all to come to County Kildare next year for the first ever public holiday of 2023. We will celebrate this date and the historic contribution of St. Brigid not just to my own county but to many parts of this island.

As the Cathaoirleach will know, Kildare has a lot to offer. Áine Mangan and her team in Into Kildare are putting together a programme of events for 2023. I encourage one and all to come to County Kildare to enjoy great heritage, sporting attractions and tourist amenities not just for February but all year round. We will also commemorate the 1500th anniversary of the passing of St. Brigid the following year in 2024. I know that Councillor Pádraig McEvoy, as chair of county council committee, and the Kildare Decade of Commemorations Committee are working on events around this milestone. I am sure that I will get the opportunity to talk about this once again. I must add that with the performance of Glenn Ryan's Lilywhites last Sunday we may have another visitor to our famous county in the forthcoming months.

I welcome the current conversations about the Defence Forces and where this will bring us to in the future. She will be aware that I, along with a number of colleagues, have consistently highlighted the problems and issues that face the Defence Forces in this House over the past two years. We have consistently been told that the Government will formulate its policy on the future of the Defence Forces following the publication of the report of the commission on the future of the Defence Forces. It is worrying in the extreme then to hear a senior Minister say that the Cathal Brugha Barracks will be relocated before the report is even published. Surely if we are to be serious about the future of the Defence Forces and their needs, including housing, then this cannot be the case.