Results 10,341-10,360 of 12,604 for speaker:Willie O'Dea

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006: Report and Final Stages (13 Feb 2007)

Willie O'Dea: In marking the passage of this legislation through the Seanad, I thank Senators from all sides of the House who contributed to the debate. The amendments proposed and accepted have improved the Bill. In particular, the provisions relating to the appointment of the military judge and chief military judge benefited from amendment and reflect the status attaching to these positions. The Bill...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Staff: Defence Forces Staff (13 Feb 2007)

Willie O'Dea: I have been advised by the military authorities that an appeal has been made to the relevant military authority in this matter and, as a consequence, it would not be appropriate for me to comment at this stage.

Written Answers — Airport Safety Zones: Airport Safety Zones (13 Feb 2007)

Willie O'Dea: It is the policy and objective of the Department of Defence to ensure the safety of air traffic, present and future, en route to and from Casement Aerodrome. The current safety policy, a copy of which was forwarded to South Dublin County Council in 2000, reflects best international practice in accordance with International Civil Aviation Organisation standards and recommendations and...

Written Answers — EU Funding: EU Funding (13 Feb 2007)

Willie O'Dea: A proportion of expenditure by my Department on equipment for fishery protection purposes is eligible for recoupment from the EU. Such receipts are shown as Appropriations-in-Aid in the Estimates and Appropriation Accounts for the Defence Vote. The amount received each year from 2000 to 2006 is as follows: Year â'¬m 2000 2.2 2001 3.2 2002 0.2 2003 0.0 200 0.7 2005 0.9 2006 0.0

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (8 Feb 2007)

Willie O'Dea: Section 33 provides that the director of military prosecutions is referred to as the director in the Act. This minor amendment to schedule 1 deletes the words "of Military Prosecutions" so the phrase now correctly reads "on the directions of the director, the person may". The amendment simply tightens up the language.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (8 Feb 2007)

Willie O'Dea: This matter was referred to during the Second Stage debate. This amendment inserts a new section into the Courts-Martial Appeals Act 1983 to include the referral of questions of law from a summary court martial to the court martial appeal court within the scope of legal aid. This is in line with the practice in the ordinary criminal law system. It was unfortunately omitted from the...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (8 Feb 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The proposed amendments seek to change the text of the Bill to reflect that communications made with the Director of Military Prosecutions or a member of his staff on behalf of another person do not come within the scope of the offence of improper communication with the director. The Bill already provides that communications with the Director of Military Prosecutions made by legal and...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (8 Feb 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The amendment would be consistent with Article 30.3 of the Constitution in respect of the prosecution of offences on indictment, which employs the phrase "in the name of the People and at the suit of the Attorney General". The Prosecution of Offences Act 1974 transferred the powers of the Attorney General regarding the prosecution of offences to the DPP. In the case, therefore, of an...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (8 Feb 2007)

Willie O'Dea: Amendment No. 5 seeks to change the provisions in legislation to ensure that the appointment is made by the President on the advice of the Government rather than on the recommendation of the Minister. I am happy to accept the amendment. Amendments Nos. 7 and 8 to the section of the Bill dealing with the military judge are required as a result of the Labour Party Senator's amendment No. 5,...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (8 Feb 2007)

Willie O'Dea: Yes, and amendment No. 12.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (8 Feb 2007)

Willie O'Dea: On amendment No. 6, the Bill currently provides that where there is more than one military judge, the Judge Advocate General may designate one of the military judges to be the chief military judge. This amendment seeks to change that so that the President would appoint the chief military judge. While I am happy to accept the principle of the amendment, the Parliamentary Counsel has advised...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (8 Feb 2007)

Willie O'Dea: This Bill is an amendment of the 1954 Act. In the case of amending legislation, it is the policy of the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to follow the format and language of the parent legislation. In this case the language of the parent Act is not gender neutral although adequate provision for the interpretation of gender references is provided for in the Defence Act. If and when the...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (8 Feb 2007)

Willie O'Dea: I accept Senator Tuffy's point. As she rightly said, the Interpretation Act states that "man" includes "woman" and vice versa. Nevertheless, the Parliamentary Counsel has advised us clearly that when we are legislating by reference to earlier legislation, if certain terminology appears in the earlier legislation the same terminology should be used in the interests of consistency. I...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (8 Feb 2007)

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

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (8 Feb 2007)

Willie O'Dea: I agree with the amendment's principle. I am, however, satisfied that the proposed insert is adequately provided for in section 194(2) of the principal Act in a more complete way. The section allows the military judge to prohibit the publication of information in the proceedings of certain circumstances, such as proceedings for an offence of a sexual nature, in exactly the same way as the...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (8 Feb 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The amendments seek to amend the provisions of the Bill relating to victim impact statements. While I have no objection to the general intention of the proposed amendments, the Bill reflects the provisions which apply in the ordinary criminal courts pursuant to section 5(3) of the Criminal Procedure Act 1993. The wording is exactly the same. If, by virtue in the current debate regarding...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (8 Feb 2007)

Willie O'Dea: I am satisfied. Section 5(3) of the Criminal Procedure Act 1993 has been interpreted in cases such as the Robert Holohan case where a relative of the victim can make the impact statement on the behalf of the deceased. We have followed the wording of that section in this legislation.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (8 Feb 2007)

Willie O'Dea: Section 192 of the principal Act provides that a summary court-martial shall not have jurisdiction to award to any person any sentence greater than imprisonment for a period of six months. The scale of punishments that may be awarded to an enlisted member of the Defence Forces is provided for in section 210 of the principal Act. It is the intention of the Bill that a summary court-martial...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (8 Feb 2007)

Willie O'Dea: This amendment merely breaks up a long subsection into two paragraphs for ease of readability.

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006: Committee Stage (8 Feb 2007)

Willie O'Dea: This minor amendment removes the word "that" from the start of paragraphs (a) and (b) and moves it to the subsection level. It is simply tidying up the language.