asked the Minister for Defence if he will state whether it is intended to vacate the Home Barracks at Ennis at an early date, and whether he has considered the desirability of handing the building over (if such evacuation takes place) to some local authority to have it converted into houses for the workers of the town.

The Home Barracks at Ennis were vacated on the 10th instant and handed over to the Commissioners of Public Works. The disposal of the building is a matter for those Commissioners, to whom I am, therefore, transmitting a letter which I received from the Deputy on the subject.

Will the Minister say what was the cause of the delay in replying to the three letters I sent to his Department in connection with this matter? I sent the first letter last September and no reply was sent to me on the matter ever since.

The barracks were not vacated until the 10th of the present month, and we were not in a position to dispose of them until they were vacated.

I asked if it were intended to vacate the barracks and, if so, what was to be done with them. I got no reply to that letter.

That is general. There is nothing strange about that.