Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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Question 247: To ask the Minister for Defence the number of military installations owned by the State or the Defence Force; the number of military installations operable; the number of closed military installations in State ownership; the annual maintenance costs associated with closed military installations in State ownership for the years 2004 to date in 2009; the security costs associated with closed military installations in State ownership for the years 2004 to date in 2009; the amount of lands in State ownership for defence or Defence Force use; if an assessment has been carried out as to the need for all the lands in State ownership for defence or Defence Force uses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43823/09]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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The Defence property portfolio consists of a diverse range of facilities from conventional military barracks to forts, camps, dwelling houses and training lands. The principal assets are 23 permanently occupied barracks. The Department also owns 26 premises that are used by the Reserve Defence Forces. A further 51 properties are rented for use by the Reserve. The property portfolio also includes a total of 150 married quarters that are mainly located within the Curragh Camp. The policy is that these should be phased out in a managed and orderly way.

The land included in the property portfolio amounts to approximately 20,000 acres, predominantly located at the Curragh, the Glen of Imaal and Kilworth Camp, and is used for military training. Details of all properties owned or rented by the Department are contained in the attached tabular statement. The modernisation process in Defence identified that the dispersal of personnel over an extended number of locations is a major impediment to essential collective training and imposes increased and unnecessary overheads on the Defence Forces in terms of barrack management, administration, maintenance and security. The consolidation of the Defence Forces formations into a smaller number of locations is a key objective of the White Paper on Defence.

The Department and the Defence Forces continually review Defence Forces requirements in relation to barracks, infrastructure and other military installations. A total of ten barracks have been closed over the past 10 years. The security costs associated with closed military installations is as follows:

Nil

€123

€43,625

€183,248

€183,839

€12,874

In respect of maintenance costs my Department does not differentiate between the costs of closed military installations and lands occupied by the Military. As a result it is not possible to give figures for the cost of maintaining closed military installations from 2004 to 2009.

A comprehensive VFM review of military training lands and firing ranges is due to be concluded shortly. I understand that the consultants report will identify opportunities for further consolidation and rationalisation of training land requirements, while pointing to additional requirements in some areas. The report of the consultants will inform the future development of defence training lands and range infrastructure. As is the case in other areas of the defence portfolio, those lands that are surplus to requirements will be disposed of for the benefit of the Defence Forces.

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE – Property Portfolio

Permanently Occupied Posts

Reserve Defence Force Premises - Owned

Reserve Defence Forces – Rented Property

Training Facilities – Owned

Firing Ranges – Owned

Other Property – Owned