Results 2,241-2,260 of 18,449 for speaker:Brendan Smith

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (18 Nov 2021)

Brendan Smith: As the Minister is aware, this is not just a critical time for the Permanent Defence Force but for the Reserve Defence Force. Unfortunately, the personnel enlisted in the Reserve at present is the lowest ever, at only just in excess of 1,500 personnel. A significant recruitment campaign and additional resources are needed. The Reserve Defence Force, as I often put on the record of the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: International Agreements (18 Nov 2021)

Brendan Smith: 19. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland regarding the need to implement in full the Stormont House Agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56352/21]

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Northern Ireland (18 Nov 2021)

Brendan Smith: 28. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will raise with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland the long-standing concerns of the families of the victims of the Springhill Westrock Massacre of July 1972 in relation to the totally unacceptable delay in holding an inquest; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56353/21]

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Defence Forces (18 Nov 2021)

Brendan Smith: 85. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of new recruits that have enlisted in the Reserve Defence Forces to date in 2021; when the next recruitment campaign will take place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56381/21]

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Defence Forces (18 Nov 2021)

Brendan Smith: 94. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of new recruits that have enlisted in the Permanent Defence Forces to date in 2021; when the next recruitment campaign will take place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56380/21]

Written Answers — Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: Tourism Policy (18 Nov 2021)

Brendan Smith: 176. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if further consideration will be given to the development and promotion of monastic trails either as standalone tourism projects or as part of walking and cycling trails within the State and on a cross-Border basis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [56814/21]

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Northern Ireland (18 Nov 2021)

Brendan Smith: 192. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has had discussions with the Minister for Justice in Northern Ireland or with the Secretary of State for Justice in Britain in relation to the unacceptable proposal by the British Government to introduce an amnesty for persons who committed crimes during the era of the Troubles in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement on...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Vaccination Programme (18 Nov 2021)

Brendan Smith: 338. To ask the Minister for Health the details of the Covid-19 vaccine booster programme; if consideration is being given to a shortening of the timeline between a person getting the second vaccine and their eligibility for the booster vaccine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56747/21]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Forestry Sector (18 Nov 2021)

Brendan Smith: 353. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the proposals there are to intensify co-operation with international forestry organisations in relation to research projects which could be carried out in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56768/21]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (18 Nov 2021)

Brendan Smith: I second that proposal. I had the privilege of serving here in Dáil Éireann with the late Austin Currie, who was always a gentleman and a great advocate, and had a very long and noble political career. I join with the Chairman and every other member of the committee in extending our sincere sympathies to his widow and to all the family, particularly our colleague, Emer.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (18 Nov 2021)

Brendan Smith: Like you, a Chathaoirligh, I welcome our three guests and their contributions. I commend them on the important work that they are carrying out on behalf of the State, and also Mrs. Rosalie Flanagan, as nominee of the British Government. I proposed, in 2018, that the commission would be invited to address this committee's predecessor. I also proposed, this time, when we were drafting our...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (18 Nov 2021)

Brendan Smith: I wholeheartedly endorse the Chairman's proposal that we ask for a special Dáil debate and a motion to be tabled in the names of all the party and group leaders. That would elevate our work on the committee and the appeals of our guests and witnesses on the importance of this issue. Mr. Knupfer referred to the television drama "Bloodlands". I did not see that programme. Has it...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (18 Nov 2021)

Brendan Smith: Yes, thank you.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (18 Nov 2021)

Brendan Smith: I am supportive of Deputy Carroll MacNeill's last point. It is obvious that there is a need for campaign-type support, if you want to call it that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (18 Nov 2021)

Brendan Smith: Mr. Oliver McVeigh and other families of the disappeared go to Stormont each year. To my recollection, on one of the particular anniversary dates there is a gathering at Stormont. Maybe we should have a gathering here, at Leinster House.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (18 Nov 2021)

Brendan Smith: Even apart from that, there should be a public gathering as well outside the confines of Leinster House.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (18 Nov 2021)

Brendan Smith: Hopefully, that would get some media attention and help to create that awareness. As all of our witnesses have appealed for, I appeal to anybody with any shred of information, regardless of whether he or she thinks it may be totally insignificant. I, again, give out the message about the confidentiality, that no information would be admissible in any criminal proceedings. They are two...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (18 Nov 2021)

Brendan Smith: We would love it if the three bodies were found but in the meantime, we should have a campaign that the public could join in and support, as well as us Members of the Oireachtas.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Engagement with the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (18 Nov 2021)

Brendan Smith: We might, that day, give some consideration to a campaign in Dublin or based in our capital city outside the Oireachtas, but obviously supported by Oireachtas Members.