As Minister, I am committed to the ongoing work of ensuring that our Defence Forces are modern, agile and fit for the world we live in to defend the State and meet the challenges of today and the future. That obviously means investing not just in the Defence Forces as personnel but also in our infrastructure. That is a key commitment in our overall capital plan.

The Commission on the Defence Forces recommended in its 2022 report significant changes to the Defence Forces and defence provision in Ireland. It covers high-level Defence Forces structures, defence capabilities, organisation, culture and human resources, the Reserve Defence Force, and funding overall.

In February, I published the second detailed implementation plan for the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. This plan sets out an ambitious programme of work to move to level of ambition 2 by 2028 and the significant and fundamental change for the Defence Forces that will be delivered across the commission's recommendations approved by the Government. The commission recommended:

The Chief of Defence to initiate an immediate force design process assisted by external experts with access to international military expertise, and to include a detailed force design process.

The Defence Forces have established three force design teams within the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps. An overarching strategic force design office has also been established. This work is ongoing, with all force design teams working collaboratively to develop a force design for the entire Defence Forces.

On completion of the force design work, the Chief of Staff will submit a report on force design to me for consideration. No decisions have been made on where the Army headquarters will be located, but it is important to say - and this is the reason I have outlined all of this in terms of the force design - that this process has to be gone through before any decision can be taken on the Army headquarters.

This is complicated and challenging work that we need to get right. We need to make sure that if we are looking at modernisation and restructuring of our Defence Forces, we take the time to do this correctly, and that is the work that is happening at the moment. What is important for me is that any force design process will include a transitional plan with incremental steps beyond current numbers to the 11,500 force recommended by the Commission on the Defence Forces.

As the Deputy will appreciate, because this is a significant body of work, there is a huge amount of effort by all involved. It is once all of these measures have been put in place that we will be able to identify where the location might be.

I thank the Minister for a comprehensive reply. This is in the context of the record €1.7 billion defence national development plan, which the Government will invest in capital infrastructure for the next five years. It is important that it is got right. We are living in a changed geopolitical situation since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and we will have to live up to our defence obligations not only within our own national context but also within the European Union context.

As regards the military history of Athlone, Custume Barracks goes back to 1691. It is geographically strategically located and is well served by railroad and river. I hope it will be considered. It also has access to third level education, namely, Technological University of the Shannon, TUS, so I hope that it will be given full consideration when a decision is made.

I will refer to what the Deputy has referred to as well, but there is also the significant increase in funding that has been agreed by this Government, specifically investment not just in the men and women, but also in our overall structures within our Defence Forces system. I have visited quite a number of barracks in the past few months. I have been in Aiken Barracks in Dundalk, the accommodation in Renmore, Galway, the Gormanstown campus and Haulbowline. All of these are areas where we are seeing significant investment in accommodation, dining facilities, gym equipment and the overall environment. Making sure that that investment continues will be a key priority for me. I think €170 million has been spent in the past five years alone, but this year close to €70 million has been spent. On top of that, there is €13.5 million for maintenance and running costs. There is an absolute commitment to make sure that our barracks and critical infrastructure for our Defence Forces members are up to scratch, modern and fit for purpose. Any new decisions for a new barracks or new accommodation will have to be taken once the overall process is done, but I will be determined to ensure that we have more money and that we invest in any of these new buildings or any new expansion that is required.

I welcome the investment in our defence capability. It has grown by 35% in the past three years and by 11% in the past year. We need to continue to invest to meet our international obligations but also to meet our own obligation as a sovereign nation and to protect our borders and the seas that surround this island. It is extremely important that we be strategic as a small country in the investment we make. It is true that we have lagged behind other countries of similar size in Europe, possibly through complacency because of our position on the edge of Europe, but that has changed now. I welcome the investment but I also hope that full consideration will be given to an Army headquarters in Athlone, which is at the centre of the country, geographically strategically located, with all the services that a headquarters would require.