asked the Minister for Defence if he will give details of proposed improvements to Army barracks throughout the State; and when such improvements will take place.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Improvements to Army Barracks.
8.
(Limerick West): The development of Army barracks throughout the State is kept under continual review and improvements are carried out as required within the limits of the resources available for this purpose.
The Estimate for Defence provides a total sum of £9.8 million for building and engineering works in 1989. A new barracks at present is being built in Cavan and major improvements recently completed include billet blocks at Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin, a new cookhouse and dininghall at Stephens Barracks, Kilkenny and administration and storage accommodation at Renmore, Galway. A contract for a new ordnance school at Clancy Barracks, Dublin, will be signed shortly.
Would the Minister agree that living conditions for private soldiers in military barracks throughout the provinces are atrocious and are in need of immediate repair and refurbishment?
(Limerick West): Perhaps the Deputy could be more specific and say where conditions are atrocious.
In my constituency I visited a billet in Sarsfield Barracks, Limerick, recently which was in an atrocious condition and where private soldiers have been in residence for quite some time past.
(Limerick West): I cannot accept that. I have visited Sarsfield Barracks in Limerick continuously and have had no indication of such conditions obtaining there. Indeed, it is not the first time that Deputy Clohessy has issued erroneous information to this effect.
I can take the Minister to Sarsfield Barracks any day and show him the atrocious conditions obtaining there.
In the context of military barracks and their conditions, might I ask the Minister when he intends replying to my letter to him of 28 February 1989 seeking permission to visit various barracks in order to examine conditions obtaining there?
The Deputy should table a question on that matter.
It relates to the conditions obtaining in military barracks, inquiring what has been done about them.
The Deputy appears to be referring to a specific matter.
The Minister has been asked for permission to visit these barracks by a Member of this House since February last. Yet he will not give the House information and will not allow us into these barracks because he knows he is dealing with something which is a scandal in itself.
The Deputy is entering into argument rather than posing a legitimate question.
Would the Minister indicate to the House whether he is satisfied in general with the standard of accommodation available to members of our Defence Forces in the various military establishments throughout the country; whether he feels it necessary to have a thorough evaluation carried out of the conditions in which many members of the Defence Forces live and whether he might initiate such a survey in the foreseeable future?
(Limerick West): I have already carried out that survey and I have that information available to me. Of course, I will not be satisfied until such time as every barrack is up to full and proper standard with proper accommodation. We are working towards that. A sum in the region of £10 million is made available every year for that purpose.
Question No. 9 please.
Are there some barracks which are particularly deficient in terms of accommodation?
There is one in Limerick.
(Limerick West): As I have said, the improvement of barracks is ongoing and improvement works are being carried out every year where necessary.
A Deputy
When are you going to bring us in to see them?