I thank the Chair for giving me this opportunity of raising this important matter and for his co-operation as I was unable to be here on Thursday when I first tabled this matter. I would also like to thank the Minister for coming here this evening.
This Government seems determined to take as much power and responsibility as it can from the south-eastern part of the country. I could cite many instances if I had the time. However, the recent decision of the IDA to locate their headquarters in Cork was a further indication of that policy.
As to the Defence Forces, the original plan was that the 3rd Battalion in the Curragh would be amalgamated with the 30th Battalion in Kilkenny, with the headquarters based in Kilkenny. A number of weeks before Christmas, the troops in that barracks were told that their future and their jobs were safe. Four weeks later they were again briefed by their commanding officer and told that the situation has changed and that the troops in Kilkenny were now to form part of the revamped 3rd Battalion. Perhaps the Minister, when replying, could explain why they were told one thing at the end of November and, a few weeks later, they were told the opposite.
What has now been proposed would mean a reduction in the number of troops located there from 350 to 200 approximately. Instead of increasing by, perhaps, 120, which was the expectation that had been created, there was now the possibility that numbers would fall by over 120. I believe this it the thin end of the wedge and that this move will eventually lead to the closure of that barracks with the loss to the local economy of £8 million. Not many areas could sustain such a loss these days.
My concern is not only the further eroding of the economic welfare of the south-east but the effect this will have in my own constituency. There are approximately 40 serving soldiers living in Waterford city who commute to Kilkenny on a daily basis. There are also a large number of soldiers throughout the county who are stationed in Clonmel. Many of these people have families in Waterford. They play their part in local activities and are part of the local community. It appears that all this is to be taken from us.
There is, of course, a smaller knock-on effect in that the four full-time people who are currently stationed in the military barracks in Waterford city would also go and the four people who are full-time members of Slua Muirí in Waterford.
It now seems that the barracks in Kilkenny is in competition with Army installations in County Kildare where there is much more room to manoeuvre and cut back if this is necessary. There are huge installations in the Curragh and these are not under threat. Just down the road from there, two miles away in Kildare and eight miles away in Naas, there are more barracks. I cannot, therefore, see why the south-eastern part of the country should be again under threat.
The biggest problem will be caused by the fact that any new battalion headquarters will be located in Kildare, which means that those stationed in Kilkenny can be asked to move there at a moment's notice. I believe this has happened already with some of the serving soldiers in Clonmel who are being asked to report to Limerick, which is their battalion headquarters. This will cause greater hardship for many of the soldiers who have entered into recent housing commitments and will not be in a position to transfer to Kildare or to commute daily.
This appears to me to be a way of reducing the numbers in the armed forces by stealth. I am calling on the Minister to ensure that the barracks in Kilkenny and Clonmel are maintained and that the £12 million they contribute annually to the economy of the south-east continues. As well as the £8 million I have already mentioned in Kilkenny, in Clonmel the wage bill of the 12th Battalion is approximately £3.6 million. They employ as many as the factory of Merck Sharp and Dohme in the area. One gets suspicious when one sees that no money is being spent on accommodation in the area. In Kilkenny there are only three personnel residing within the barracks.
I ask the Minister to consider the points I have put forward and to give an assurance that there will be no down-grading of the military barracks located in the south-east.