Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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The Minister is very welcome to the Chamber and I appreciate that he is here given the importance of this Commencement matter. I rise to seek absolute clarity on the future of Cathal Brugha Barracks and the Irish Defence Forces. We are all aware of the outrageous tweet from the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, which came from left field and shocked all of us. Not only did it shock all of us in this House, it shocked the defence community throughout the country and none more so than in my native Kildare.

I come from a very strong Defence Forces area and we are honoured to be home to many phenomenal Defence Forces personnel and their families. We have the headquarters in Newbridge and a very fine military camp in the Curragh. They have added an immeasurable amount to our local communities over the years. I was fortunate to be there yesterday, as was the Acting Chairperson, Senator Wall, with the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence which is undertaking a tour of military barracks and naval bases, which is good. We had the opportunity to engage with the General Officer Commanding, GOC, and other personnel on issues such as recruitment and retention.

While I accept that he represents the constituency in which Cathal Brugha Barracks is situated, for a Minister who has no military or defence portfolio to take to Twitter and essentially announce the closure of the barracks with no forewarning or forward planning was an insult to the personnel that serve and the families that live there, and to the entire Defence Forces. There is no doubt we have a significant issue with housing which is a priority for the Government. I absolutely accept that and that is how it should be, but we also need to have Defence Forces that are up to full capacity and capability. A balance has to be struck.

I have no doubt there could be negotiation and if the idea was presented to those in Cathal Brugha Barracks of an alternative functioning, state-of-the-art barracks, it possibly would be considered. However, the notion that we would close down such a significant military structure as the city of Dublin's finest barracks, especially in the year of the centenary of Michael Collins and the treaty, beggars belief.

A Minister having such disregard for our defence families is unacceptable and I hope we get a response from the Minister, Deputy Coveney, that will go some way towards healing the wound and give us clarity and hope for the way forward. What is the future of Cathal Brugha Barracks? Will it remain fully operational? Are there plans for the closure of the barracks? Are there plans for a new barracks? Will there be an apology to the defence community throughout the country for the disrespect shown by the haphazard attempt at this announcement?

I briefly mentioned recruitment and retention. Over the past two years, the way the defence community has responded to needs throughout the pandemic has been top class. That has increased the morale among the Defence Forces where morale had been extremely low for a number of years. The geopolitical area we are in with regard to Russia has again brought the Defence Forces right to the heart and forefront of all we do in this country.

They deserve our support. It is a wonderful career, as was pointed out to us yesterday. However, the fact that men and women are not going forward and are leaving, and that the Defence Forces are very short of trainers to be able to recruit, leads to the suggestion that not enough supports are put in place to make it an attractive career in which to stay or to recruit. The Minister needs to address that.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator O'Loughlin for raising this matter. I am mindful of the significant media attention this matter has attracted over the past week and the impact such coverage has had on the personnel and their families who serve in Cathal Brugha Barracks. In that context, I want to make it very clear that no decision has been taken by the Government on the relocation of Defence Forces operations at Cathal Brugha Barracks.

Cathal Brugha Barracks is the only operational barracks in the capital. McKee Barracks is an administrative centre for the Defence Forces and certainly does not have the capacity to house the 1,000 personnel currently serving in Cathal Brugha Barracks. It is recognised as holding a pivotal location. The Government's senior military advisers in the Defence Forces have made it very clear that its location is vital for a range of reasons, some of which I cannot go into explicit details on for operational and security reasons.

That being said, some should be self-evident to all, such as the strategic location regarding key Government buildings and national critical infrastructure, and the ability to respond and assist other civil authorities in the event of terrorist attacks or other security-related emergencies. In addition, as an operational barracks, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, an ordnance disposals team operates from there, as does the permanent armed response unit which is on immediate notice to deploy if required. I will not dwell on the historical importance of Cathal Brugha Barracks which Members of the House will be fully aware of.

Of course, and understandably from a non-military or security perspective, the barracks occupies a significant land bank which could be used for other purposes strategic to the State. In recognition of the fact that this has become an issue that arises every couple of years, the Department of Defence has secured funding from the Department of the Taoiseach, under the Housing for All fund, to engage consultants to undertake a cost benefit analysis and feasibility study on the possible relocation of Cathal Brugha Barracks.

This is an exploratory exercise which will allow an informed debate to take place on the implications and practicalities of responding to calls to relocate from the current location. My Department, together with the Defence Forces, is developing a tender proposal for a feasibility study and will go to the market in the coming weeks.

I will be very clear, because significant doubt has been raised in recent days, that there is no decision to relocate, rather it is intended to fully assess over the course of the coming months the implications, feasibility and practicalities of such a move. The representative associations and other stakeholders who have been very vocal in recent days, including civilian employees, will be kept appraised of progress as their interest is central to this, as indeed is mine as Minister for Defence. I thank the Senator for raising this important matter. I will give more detail when I get the chance to respond a second time.

Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for his response and for bringing clarity to the debate. At the very least, we can say the tweet sent out by the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, was disingenuous and ill-informed.I thank the Minister for making it clear that no decision has been made by Government in terms of relocation and for acknowledging the very strategic location of Cathal Brugha Barracks and the 1,000 personnel who serve. They must be central in this debate.

I accept what the Minister is saying regarding a feasibility study and look forward to him keeping all of us informed and having the opportunity to debate that feasibility study in the Seanad. I would appreciate it if the Minister could give us a few comments in his final response about recruitment and retention of personnel and the fact we need to address the 20% of Defence Forces personnel who need to apply for family income supplement to be able to pay their household bills.

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Regarding comments about the Minister, Deputy Ryan, I do not believe this was disingenuous. I believe that when he made the statement on social media, it was on the basis of a case he has been making for many years, namely, that this is a very strategic site that could be used for housing. I do not believe anything was meant by that. He also recognised the Defence Forces need to be accommodated. What I would say as Minister for Defence is that no decision has been made to move out of Cathal Brugha Barracks or to relocate that barracks. We are not at that stage. We are going through a tendering process to put a feasibility study in place that will take some time so that we can weigh up all the pros and cons. We will work with the Defence Forces and representative bodies and seek security advice to make the right decision for Defence Forces personnel, their families and Dublin. I thank the Senator for her additional comments.

For the avoidance of doubt, I reiterate that no decision to relocate Cathal Brugha Barracks has been made. I was very clear on this point in the Dáil. The only decision made to date has been to undertake an independent and externally conducted cost-benefit analysis and feasibility study on the implications of considering such a move. This study will comprise three fundamental aspects. One involves the consideration of whole life cycle costs and benefits, including new land acquisition costs and provision of a new barracks, which undoubtedly would be necessary should this move take place. The second involves assessment of the operational and security implications and risks associated with relocation, because they are very real. The third involves determination as to the feasibility of relocating incorporating internal comparators as to how other states manage the threats and risks to their capital infrastructure in their capital cities. This project should take between nine to 12 months to complete and all relevant stakeholders will be briefed as the project progresses. It is expected the aim of the project will be achieved, namely, to allow for an informed and holistic debate on the merits of the current location at Cathal Brugha Barracks, which has served Ireland well for a long time.

Regarding the Senator's last question, I hope to be in a position next week to launch the outcome of the work of the Commission on the Future of the Defence Forces. I believe this report is probably the most important piece of work done strategically in terms of the future of the defence debate in Ireland and the Defence Forces, how they are resourced and capability issues we have seen in many decades. I hope it will be an opportunity for us to debate in some detail in this House, which I suspect the Acting Chairman would appreciate, what the future of the Defence Forces looks like and the resourcing implications of those recommendations. I look forward as Minister for Defence to leading that debate. This is a commission set up by the Government. It is a commission I put together in terms of its chair and members. It has extraordinary experience contributing to the recommendations it is hoped we will publish at some point next week. This is in some ways a watershed moment for a future reflection and commitment from Government on the Defence Forces of the future and how we resource, structure and support them in the context of creating a very exciting opportunity for many young people to choose a career in the Defence Forces for the future.

I hope I have clarified the situation concerning Cathal Brugha Barracks, primarily for Defence Forces personnel and their families but also for the broader public and this House. I look forward to bringing forward the details, recommendations and work of the commission, which has been working on this issue for more than 12 months. It is a watershed moment in the defence debate and the Government has very serious responsibility in terms of how we respond to that.