Results 10,201-10,220 of 12,604 for speaker:Willie O'Dea

Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (3 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: I have thought about it but I have not changed my view. First, I do not believe it would be appropriate for the Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill to unilaterally amend the Children Act. Second, and more importantly, I believe there are good reasons section 271 of the Children Act should not be repealed. The effect of section 271 of the Children Act is that any person under 18 years of age...

Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (3 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The proposed amendment seeks to change the text of the Bill to reflect that communications made with the director of military prosecutions or a member of staff on behalf of a complainant in proceedings, or on behalf of a person charged with or who believes he is likely to be charged with an offence, or on behalf of a person involved in the matter personally, do not come within the scope of...

Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (3 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: Under the proposed provisions of the Bill the director of military prosecutions alone will prefer the charges under military law. A charge would be laid as the director of military prosecutions versus the accused. I am advised by the Parliamentary Counsel that it is not necessary, therefore, to make the amendment as proposed and I will explain the reason. In ordinary offences on indictment...

Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (3 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: It does not weaken it in any way, it is simply the way the indictment in this case is formulated. Article 30.3 of the Constitution provides that if an ordinary criminal offence is being prosecuted on indictment it is to be done in the name of the people and at the suit of the Attorney General — that was changed to the DPP in 1974. We have the option — this has been vetted by the...

Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (3 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The way all prosecutions are formulated under military law is simply that it is the prosecutor versus the accused. The only reason we do it in the rather unwieldy way for ordinary criminal charges on indictment is the Constitution states we are to do it that way, for whatever reason. There is no legal reason it should be done that way.

Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (3 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: Yes, that is still the position. I intend to do it when the opportunity arises.

Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (3 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The Bill provides that any members of the Defence Forces who are barristers or solicitors may not be members of a court martial board. The amendment seeks to remove this provision. A person in the Defence Forces who is legally qualified is a potential member of the legal service. This fact should cast doubt on his or her independence. In the recently passed UK Armed Forces Act 2006 such...

Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (3 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The current provisions in the Bill are modelled on section 5 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993. Although I would have no objection to the general intention of the amendment, I do not consider it appropriate to depart from the current position in ordinary criminal law. There would appear to be a practice of making it possible for a relative of the deceased to make a statement, rather than it...

Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (3 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: I thank all the Deputies from both sides of the House who contributed to the debate on the Bill. Subsequent to the debate on Second Stage, I received the finalised report from the Irish Human Rights Commission detailing its observations on the proposals contained in the Bill. The report is comprehensive. I wish to record my appreciation of the valuable work done by the commission in...

Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (3 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: I have examined this issue in the intervening period. I have no objection to the Act being reviewed as often as is required. However, I am not persuaded that a statutory provision is the way to do it. It is my intention and that of the Department that the Act be kept under constant review and amended as often as necessary having regard to developments in the law. A phase two process to...

Order of Business (3 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: Resurrection.

Written Answers — Irish Language: Irish Language (28 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The staff of my Department have access to a voice mail service and are free to leave telephone voice mail announcements in the language of their choice. The current position is that some of the telephone messages are recorded in both Irish and English.

Written Answers — Defence Forces Reserve: Defence Forces Reserve (28 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The establishment of the Reserve Defence Force at commissioned officer level by command and unit, the vacancies that currently exist at commissioned officer level in the Reserve Defence Force by command and unit, the number of Reserve Defence Force officers that have been promoted to Captain since 1 October 2005 and the appointments of these promotions are outlined in the following tabular...

Written Answers — Ministerial Appointments: Ministerial Appointments (28 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: I do not envisage making or nominating any appointments to State Boards, State Bodies or other like entities in the period 26th March 2007 to 31st May 2007.

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (27 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The Department is very conscious of the detrimental effects caused to the Curragh Plains arising from the activities referred to in the correspondence submitted by the Deputy and continues to use every means available to deal with the issue. The Government approved the drafting of a Bill to provide for the establishment of a Statutory Body to manage the Curragh, with the exception of the...

Written Answers — EU Directives: EU Directives (22 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: There have been no such laws or statutory instruments introduced by my Department.

Written Answers — Public Service Contracts: Public Service Contracts (21 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The type of detailed statistical information sought is not readily available. It would take a disproportionate amount of time to compile, as it would necessitate examination of all procurement files over the last twelve months. My Department adheres to both E.U. and National Procurement procedures in procurement matters. Projects are advertised and assessed in line with these procedures....

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (20 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The amounts paid by my Department in 2006 in respect of Departmental staff, civilian employees and military personnel were of the order of €1.776m by way of car mileage allowances and €0.623m in respect of rail and bus ticket expenses.

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (20 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The cost of energy used in running my Department's offices was €260,883.10 in 2002 and €373,435.42 in 2006. In terms of the quantity of energy used, this information will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible. The Department's new premises in Newbridge will have a range of environmentally friendly energy-saving features that will reduce energy in the long term. The Finance...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (20 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The gender balance at each grade in my Department and in agencies that come under the aegis of my Department are as follows: Departmental Staff Grade Total Male Female Secretary General 1 1 0 Assistant Secretary 2 2 0 Principal Officer 14 10 4 Assistant Principal 31 23 8 Properties Officer 1 1 0 Higher Executive Officer 55 24 31 Administrative Officers 2 0 2 Executive Officers 76...