Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 63: To ask the Minister for Defence the number of personnel based in each of the Army barracks in Monaghan and Cavan; his views on whether it is essential that these personnel remain in this area until the Good Friday Agreement and St. Andrews Agreement are fully settled in and security has been taken over in full by the Northern Ireland Assembly; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35127/08]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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The number of personnel serving in Monaghan and Cavan Barracks is 200 and 128 respectively.

I am sure the Deputy will join me in welcoming the return to normality in the border area arising from the peace process. A consequence of this has been the withdrawal of the British Army deployments together with reduced paramilitary activity. This in turn has removed the rationale for us retaining seven barracks/posts along the border. Accordingly I welcome the Governments decision, announced in the Budget, that a number of border posts including Monaghan are to close with personnel there being transferred to Dundalk.

The consolidation of the Defence Forces formations in a smaller number of locations is a key objective of the White Paper on Defence. The dispersal of Defence Forces personnel over an extended number of locations is a major impediment to essential collective training and the consolidation process is designed to facilitate higher training standards, while also freeing up under-utilised resources and personnel for operational duties. The recently announced closures will enhance the Defence Forces capability to engage in collective training.