Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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133. To ask the Minister for Defence if there are any structures or mechanisms to facilitate families living in Army accommodation where the martial relationship has broken down and notice has been given to quit the premises. [2968/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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When serving personnel leave the Defence Forces, or otherwise vacate a married quarter property that had been assigned to them, they are required under military regulations to return vacant possession of that property. Over the years, the vast majority of serving personnel have returned vacant possession of married quarter properties when required to do so. Those who fail to return vacant possession of such properties are termed “overholders” and the Department seeks to recover possession from this group. The legal process for the recovery of the property commences with the issue of a “Notice to Quit”.

In the period since January 2013, 15 of such properties have been returned to the Department, many of which had been occupied by former spouses or family members of those who had origionally been allocated the property.

Where married quarter properties are located outside barracks they are offered for sale to the occupant and many have been disposed of in this manner. The majority of properties being overheld at this point however are located within barracks and it is not possible to offer these for sale as they must be retained for military use.

The Department assists in whatever way it can in order to resolve the cases of overholding without recourse to legal action. However, any initiative to resolve overholding must support and complement the current policy, which dates back to 1997, of withdrawing from the provision of married quarters.

In cases where the occupants are unable or unwilling to purchase a property being overheld, the Department provides whatever documentation it can to support applications for housing assistance and officials from my Department have had discussions with relevant local authorities to determine what if any supports are available for overholders in this regard.

There are also a number of advice and support services available to Defence Forces personnel and their families. The Defence Forces Personnel Support Service (PSS) has a representative in every Barrack. The PSS is a central aspect of human resource management that provides a confidential information, training and education, support and referral service for Defence Forces personnel. There is a PSS office in every major installation in the Defence Forces, with one or more qualified Barrack Personnel Support Service Officer(s) (BPSSO).

The role of the BPSSO includes providing information, assistance and counselling on a range of matters including:

- Interpersonal problems

- Stress in many forms (personal, due to family and/or financial problems etc.)

- Bereavement (in its many forms, including family breakup)

- Housing (including stress from mortgages, inability to sell property to relocate family nearer the military workplace etc.)

Each Brigade/Formation also has a civilian Defence Forces Social Worker (full-time or part-time) whose tasks are to provide assistance and support to service personnel and their families where required.

In addition, there is an Independent Confidential Helpline and Counselling Service for Permanent Defence Force personnel. Since 2013 this independent and confidential service was extended to the Reserve Defence Force, Civilian Employees of the Department of Defence and Civil Defence Personnel and a broader range of services was introduced, including family and couple counselling.