Defence Forces
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-17
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Brendan Smith (FF), Cavan-Monaghan

I thank the Minister for her response. Our colleague, Deputy McGreehan, will be glad to hear of the Minister's commitment to further investment in Aiken Barracks.
I am glad that the Minister emphasised that accommodation needs to be upgraded. As a member of the then Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence some years ago, I had the opportunity to visit some barracks and I have to say I was very disappointed with the quality of some of the living accommodation. In the meantime, I had a lot of engagement with the Taoiseach, as Minister for Defence, and with the Tánaiste, as Minister for Defence. Both of them had directed substantial additional funding - much necessary investment - in living accommodation and in the general barracks.
As the Minister said, people are working in that environment. They are living in that environment. Most people nowadays come from homes that are of a good quality. I have heard young recruits go into some of the barracks and to be fair about it, their living accommodation was not acceptable.
I know the barracks. It takes huge investment. They are old buildings. It is not easy to upgrade them. It costs a lot of money but it is a very necessary investment in our Permanent Defence Force. It acts as an attractive measure if there is decent living accommodation while a person is being upskilled and being trained to be a member of our Defence Forces.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:38+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-17