Results 3,001-3,020 of 50,134 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Proposed Approval by Dáil Éireann of Ireland's Participation in Two PESCO Projects and Two European Defence Agency Projects and the Report Regarding Service by the Defence Forces with the UN in 2023: Motion (2 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: I am sorry, what was the last question? Do we-----

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Proposed Approval by Dáil Éireann of Ireland's Participation in Two PESCO Projects and Two European Defence Agency Projects and the Report Regarding Service by the Defence Forces with the UN in 2023: Motion (2 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: No.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Proposed Approval by Dáil Éireann of Ireland's Participation in Two PESCO Projects and Two European Defence Agency Projects and the Report Regarding Service by the Defence Forces with the UN in 2023: Motion (2 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: This is voluntary opt-in. I want to say overall that "No" is the answer to that - an emphatic "No". We will be under no obligations. These are opt-in and on a voluntary basis, as I said, but I do think we need to. The Deputy suggested that she is objecting to the process here. Government has to take decisions in the normal course of events, and the Oireachtas has to take decisions. This...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Proposed Approval by Dáil Éireann of Ireland's Participation in Two PESCO Projects and Two European Defence Agency Projects and the Report Regarding Service by the Defence Forces with the UN in 2023: Motion (2 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: On the logistic hubs, we do not have to join any logistic hubs but we do see value here. Say we were on a peacekeeping mission and we had to evacuate quickly. The idea of having a hub, or being part of a logistics hub on the European mainland, could be advantageous to safe and more rapid evacuation. That is why, I think, our military personnel were anxious to join this particular project....

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Proposed Approval by Dáil Éireann of Ireland's Participation in Two PESCO Projects and Two European Defence Agency Projects and the Report Regarding Service by the Defence Forces with the UN in 2023: Motion (2 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: Yes, of course.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Proposed Approval by Dáil Éireann of Ireland's Participation in Two PESCO Projects and Two European Defence Agency Projects and the Report Regarding Service by the Defence Forces with the UN in 2023: Motion (2 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: Of course, absolutely. I am talking generally about the noise that is around this issue.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Proposed Approval by Dáil Éireann of Ireland's Participation in Two PESCO Projects and Two European Defence Agency Projects and the Report Regarding Service by the Defence Forces with the UN in 2023: Motion (2 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: That is well documented. The current strength of the Naval Service is 716 and the establishment is 1,941.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Proposed Approval by Dáil Éireann of Ireland's Participation in Two PESCO Projects and Two European Defence Agency Projects and the Report Regarding Service by the Defence Forces with the UN in 2023: Motion (2 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: We have two. We have one permanently on the go.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Proposed Approval by Dáil Éireann of Ireland's Participation in Two PESCO Projects and Two European Defence Agency Projects and the Report Regarding Service by the Defence Forces with the UN in 2023: Motion (2 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: I have just been informed it is two. The surveillance of undersea cables is not all about ships, however.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Proposed Approval by Dáil Éireann of Ireland's Participation in Two PESCO Projects and Two European Defence Agency Projects and the Report Regarding Service by the Defence Forces with the UN in 2023: Motion (2 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: We have very strong surveillance now with the two new aeroplanes that came on board, the C295s. They have far greater advanced technology than anything previous to them and they have significantly enhanced overall maritime surveillance. However, the optimal position-----

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Proposed Approval by Dáil Éireann of Ireland's Participation in Two PESCO Projects and Two European Defence Agency Projects and the Report Regarding Service by the Defence Forces with the UN in 2023: Motion (2 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: We have a major logistics investment in a plane with strategic lift capability. I think we should have it by next year. It is a C295 but it is a variation of it which will enable us to carry out strategic lifts of citizens out of crisis areas. We have two C295s already. There is a third major investment coming and it should be ready and available to us next year.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Proposed Approval by Dáil Éireann of Ireland's Participation in Two PESCO Projects and Two European Defence Agency Projects and the Report Regarding Service by the Defence Forces with the UN in 2023: Motion (2 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: Absolutely not. It is about learning about this area. We have to work with others, as we do already. What happens at the moment is that if certain ships go into the exclusive economic zones, services will alert other services. That happens regularly. When CHENS, the heads of all the navies across Europe, met in Cork about two years ago - it was a kind of social event - I had some very...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Proposed Approval by Dáil Éireann of Ireland's Participation in Two PESCO Projects and Two European Defence Agency Projects and the Report Regarding Service by the Defence Forces with the UN in 2023: Motion (2 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: We do not normally comment on the operations of the armed forces of other nations, either inside or outside Ireland's territorial waters.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Proposed Approval by Dáil Éireann of Ireland's Participation in Two PESCO Projects and Two European Defence Agency Projects and the Report Regarding Service by the Defence Forces with the UN in 2023: Motion (2 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: If I may, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, UNCLOS, allows for all vessels, including military vessels, to transit through the territorial waters of coastal states when conducting innocent passage, as defined by Article 19 of UNCLOS. Therefore, any vessels transiting Irish waters must do so in compliance with international law. They may be subject to sighting and...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Proposed Approval by Dáil Éireann of Ireland's Participation in Two PESCO Projects and Two European Defence Agency Projects and the Report Regarding Service by the Defence Forces with the UN in 2023: Motion (2 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: The specific location I do not have right now. It could be in Brussels or in any other member state or, maybe, the lead state. On that, we have 17 full-time operational military installations, including army barracks, a naval base, an aerodrome and training camps. The Defence Forces are one of the largest energy users in the public service. That illustrates the value of this. The course...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Proposed Approval by Dáil Éireann of Ireland's Participation in Two PESCO Projects and Two European Defence Agency Projects and the Report Regarding Service by the Defence Forces with the UN in 2023: Motion (2 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: Some €1,500 is not a whole lot in the overall scheme of things. The application of this will be to the 17 full-time operation military installations that we have in Ireland which, as I said earlier, are the naval base, Baldonnel, the barracks, training camps and so on. We want to learn new ways of developing sustainable energy in respect of all these installations. Incremental work...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Proposed Approval by Dáil Éireann of Ireland's Participation in Two PESCO Projects and Two European Defence Agency Projects and the Report Regarding Service by the Defence Forces with the UN in 2023: Motion (2 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: Regarding cybersecurity, there can be a number of actors, if you read any formal works on this or research undertaken by companies in the digital space. I was at the Munich security conference two years ago and last year. There was a presentation from Google which was quite informative about the criminal groups and state actors involved. Russia is a key state actor and our immediate threat...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Proposed Approval by Dáil Éireann of Ireland's Participation in Two PESCO Projects and Two European Defence Agency Projects and the Report Regarding Service by the Defence Forces with the UN in 2023: Motion (2 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy has eloquently articulated the situation about the evolution of standards for equipment, clothing, weaponry, trucks and so on since our first days in Congo. I visited the veterans' museum in Arbour Hill recently. It is worth a visit. It is a nice museum. They showed me the different uniforms from the beginning. Even in Lebanon in the 1970s, in a very hot environment, somebody...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Proposed Approval by Dáil Éireann of Ireland's Participation in Two PESCO Projects and Two European Defence Agency Projects and the Report Regarding Service by the Defence Forces with the UN in 2023: Motion (2 Jul 2024)

Micheál Martin: It was very thick stuff. Things progress and evolve. That is the nature of these exercises too. Remember, as I said earlier in the earlier statement on the UN, that we are working in Lebanon with Poland and Hungary in POLBATT. There are may be some Maltese too. Interoperability is key. That is why training and engaging with others through PESCO, the EDA and battle groups, for that...