Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 June 2014
19. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Defence if he will publish the technical examination which assessed a selection of dwellings at the Curragh Camp; if he will expand the assessment to include all residential units in the area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25801/14]
Amharc ar fhreagra22. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Defence if he will publish the technical examination into some dwellings at the Curragh Camp; if he will expand the examination to all residential dwellings in the area in view of the housing crisis in the State and the fact that serving defence forces personnel are on social housing lists. [25799/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 19 and 22 together.
The Department of Defence recently undertook an assessment of vacant former married quarter properties within the Curragh Camp with a view to their potential for future military use. The properties in question comprise a terrace of 16 houses. Three of the houses had previously been reconfigured by combining adjacent houses with the result that there are now 13 individual units in the terrace overall.
The assessment indicates that, in order to be viable for military purposes as multi-occupancy Single-Living-In accommodation, adjacent properties would best be combined to give a smaller number of larger units. The assessment also indicates that the properties are in a very poor state of repair and that the estimated cost of repairs necessary to make them suitable as accommodation is simply prohibitive.
While the outcome of the assessment is still under consideration it is clear that any renovation would be very costly, would only deliver around half the number of viable units and would be very limited in terms of future military needs. At this stage, this is not considered to be a cost effective solution to meeting accommodation needs in the Curragh.
This assessment was undertaken as the block overall appeared to be structurally sound and contained a sizeable number of houses, the majority of which were vacant. Given the outcome of the assessment in this case there appears to be little prospect that the outcome would be much different were other individual or small groups of houses assessed. Consequently there are no plans to expand the assessment to include all residential units in the Camp.
The Curragh Camp is a key military installation. Among its many functions it houses the Defence Forces Training Centre and as such it operates as the main training facility for military personnel from across all formations.
It has been Department policy since 1997 to discontinue the provision of married quarters across all military installations, as they are no longer a requirement of the modern solider. Where personnel are now required for military purposes to be accommodated in barracks this is done on a Single-Living-In basis i.e. the military personnel but not their families are accommodated for the duration of the requirement.
In recent years, some vacated former married quarter properties within the Camp have been retained, refurbished and reallocated for use by the military to provide short-term accommodation on a multi-occupancy basis for those military personnel who are temporarily based at the training centre.
Expenditure from the Defence Vote can only be justified in the context of meeting the needs of the Defence Forces in accordance with Defence policy in a cost effective manner.
It is important to remember that the Department does not have a role in providing housing assistance for military personnel on social housing lists or for members of the public in general.
