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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 24 Oct 2000

Vol. 524 No. 5

Priority Questions. - Defence Forces Property.

Pádraic McCormack

Question:

106 Mr. McCormack asked the Minister for Defence the progress made on plans to relocate the Army firing range from its lands at Oranmore, County Galway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23423/00]

The Department's lands at Oranmore are the primary range and training area for military personnel of the Western Brigade and are in constant use throughout the year.

The question of providing a new training area to accommodate the range and mobility which the training of mechanised troops require will be considered by my Department in the coming months. This consideration will include the possible relocation from Oranmore which may allow for the disposal of these lands for economic development.

The sourcing and acquisition of an alternative site, together with the attendant planning approvals, may take some time to achieve.

Has the Department identified any alternative location for its firing range facilities which are currently in Oranmore? The reply the Minister has just given is exactly the same as the written reply he gave me to a similar question on 27 June. He said "The question of providing a new training area to accommodate the range and mobility—

The Deputy should not quote during Question Time.

The Minister quoted it himself so I do not need to quote it. What progress has been made on this matter in the past four months?

As the Deputy knows, the Department of Defence owns 535 acres in Oranmore, which has been meeting our rifle range and training requirements for a considerable time. This issue arose because of some outside interest in the land, which is owned by the Department of Defence.

The military authorities are establishing a working group to look at alternative sites, which the Deputy will appreciate are not easy to find and would require very extensive examination, subsequent planning permission and so on. As far as I know, no specific area has been identified yet. I understand it is extremely difficult to do so. However, the west is being looked at very specifically to find land to accommodate the Defence Forces' future requirements, in the event of the disposal of Oranmore.

I thank the Minister for the information, with which I am familiar. No progress has been made, therefore. Does the Minister consider that locking up land for that use within close proximity of the ever expanding city of Galway is the best use for that land? If the Department of Defence succeeds in getting similar grounds somewhere else in, as the Minister said, the west – where there is plenty of open spaces – would the land at Oranmore be then made available to the proposers of the airport facilities for Galway? I am sure the Minister is aware that Galway Corporation, which owns 80 acres adjacent to this land, has already decided to make its 80 acres available. Does the Minister agree this very valuable land in a vastly expanding area should not be locked up when less valuable land could be used for this purpose? The land is set to farmers for most of the year.

It is an unfortunate comment to describe the land as locked up. This land, which is owned by the Department of Defence, is extensively used as a firing range and training area and we do not have an alternative site within a very long distance from that area. As the Deputy knows, there is a huge number of Army personnel in the west and midlands who use this facility.

I hope I will be supported by the Deputy if I try to dispose of any lands because I encountered many rows when I disposed of land a couple of years ago. However, I accept we require a larger amount of land for the future and we are looking seriously at that. We would be interested in dealing with the local community to determine its greatest need, including the airport, and the Corporation. We have not come to that stage yet. However, I suggest to the Deputy, as an active member of the local authority in Galway, that we could do with support from the elected members to identify areas which could be used and for which planning permission could be fairly easily obtained.

I assure the Minister he will have my support if he wants to dispose of that land for airport use. I am part of a campaign for that already. What serious efforts are being made, because I can see nothing to satisfy me—

We are running out of time and I would like the Minister to have time to answer.

What serious effort has been made in the past four months to get an alternative site, about which the Minister told me in his written reply on 27 June?

I am sure Deputy McCormack knows as well as I do that any debate about the acquisition of lands for this purpose, including the facts that are being looked at, would not be helpful. However, if there is any specific information I can pass on to him arising from the work that has gone on in recent months, I would be very glad to discuss it with him.

And I would be very glad to help the Minister.

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