Will the Tánaiste provide an update on plans to enhance the Naval Service headquarters at Haulbowline?

I thank the Deputy for the opportunity to outline the unprecedented levels of capital investment we are making at Haulbowline naval base in County Cork. Since the introduction of the infrastructure development plan, we have completed in excess of €12 million worth of projects at the naval base, including a refurbishment of the operations training building, an upgrade of accommodation block 8, a regeneration of Spencer jetty, an upgrade of the oil wharf and the installation of a fire detection and firefighting system.

At present, €38 million worth of projects are at various stages of the design, procurement and construction process at Haulbowline, including three accommodation projects that will in total provide another 118 beds for Naval Service personnel. The refurbishment of blocks 4 and 9 is now well advanced and both will be completed in 2025. In addition, the following projects will proceed to construction in 2025: a new gym at the old tank building, a refurbishment of the cadets’ mess, a refurbishment of the old communications building and the commencement of dredging works for the entire base. All told, this represents a committed €50 million in capital projects.

Building on this momentum, my Department has commenced a process of developing master plans for each military installation in the State, including the naval base. To this end, a tendering process will be launched in the coming days to engage consultants to develop a master plan for the Naval Service. This will capture all future planning and infrastructure, both land- and marine-based projects, for the next 20 years, ensuring that developments necessary to achieve level of ambition 2 are in place. This approach represents a step change in how we develop our military infrastructure and is further proof of my commitment to ensuring our Defence Forces have the requisite assets required to complete the taskings the Government assigns to them.

I thank the Tánaiste. Anybody who has visited Haulbowline in the past 12 months will have seen the massive works that have been undertaken there recently. I recall the base when I was a councillor in the Cobh municipal district, and much of it began with the People's Park, with which Deputy Stanton will be familiar. That was the beginning of many of the works that have happened over recent years.

The investment is undoubted, is well deserved and has been well spent. Will the Tánaiste clarify what is happening with the development of a gym? I think one was mooted for the site and the former mess was to be converted into an office or training centre. What is the status of those two projects?

The new gym at the old tank building is progressing well and we are basically down to procurement timelines. Investment will not be an issue and the gym will happen. There are also, as I said, significant accommodation projects. The refurbishment of the block 9 office facility, for example, commenced in August of this year. Once refurbishment works have been completed on this proposed structure, block 9 will provide a mixed-unit office facility that will allow consolidation of the Naval Service, support command headquarters and staff in the naval headquarters into one building. That will deal with the shortage of office accommodation at the naval base and allow us to relocate personnel from temporary buildings and so forth.

The master plan will outline what we intend to do for the next 20 years, but anyone who visits Haulbowline today will see the extent of the work that is under way. The gyms are very important. I have been to other facilities where the gyms make a significant difference to morale, training, physical fitness and so on, and we want first-class gym facilities in all our installations.

As I said, all the developments are welcome, and I know they are appreciated by the personnel based in Haulbowline. On the residential side, I understand that the refurbishment of the current block the Tánaiste mentioned will include accommodation for 75 personnel and that there will be further development in another block to allow people to stay on site. There was a sad situation a number of years ago when people resorted to staying on the ships, but that is no longer happening, which is most welcome.

Will the Tánaiste clarify as a final word just when that second block is due to be completed? As I said, it will allow for another 70 to 75 personnel to stay on site.

A whole range of accommodation projects are under way. We have the refurbishment of block 4 in Haulbowline, with 74 beds at a cost of €500,000. I mentioned the refurbishment of the old communications building, creating 20 beds at a cost of €4.2 million, and the refurbishment of the cadet mess building in Haulbowline, creating 24 beds at a cost of €3.7 million, and on it goes. We are refurbishing block 8 in Haulbowline, where there will be 70 beds. The projects are all progressing fairly quickly. There are no delays or anything like that. This will transform the whole accommodation situation at Haulbowline. It already has but these projects will mean more accommodation will be available.