Results 10,581-10,600 of 12,604 for speaker:Willie O'Dea

State Property. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The Government decided on 1 July 2003 that lands at Gormanstown, County Meath, would be among the State lands released for inclusion in the Sustaining Progress affordable housing initiative. How land at this location might play a role in the delivery of affordable units is a matter in the first instance for the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, which is the lead...

State Property. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: That is an obvious consideration that we have taken into account and the deal will be constructed so that there is no interference with Air Corps activities. We are still negotiating that point, among others, with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. The transfer is taking some time and it will take another year. The news is better regarding other lands that are...

State Property. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The lands in question are around 261 acres in size and about 57 acres are used for the Army camp. Some 25 acres is cut off from the main body of land by a roadway. The matter of how much will be handed over has not yet been finalised, although I would guess it will be about half of the 261 acre total. My Department's brief is to hand the lands over to Department of the Environment,...

State Property. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: It is not a cash transfer. We are merely playing our part in the affordable housing initiative by transferring the land.

State Property. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: That had not been considered but since the Deputy has mentioned it, we will look at the possibility.

State Property. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: That land was given to other State agencies to advance State projects. There was no question of giving it to private developers.

State Property. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: I see the point Deputy Timmins is making. The land bank available to the Department of Defence is kept under constant review. We will have progressively less land to dispose of on the open market in future and we will receive funding from the Minister for Finance to compensate for this and maintain the considerable level of investment in infrastructure, weaponry, training and so on.

Overseas Missions. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 8, 45 and 222 together. Ireland is currently contributing 826 Defence Forces personnel to 19 different missions throughout the world. Full details of all personnel currently serving overseas on UN mandated operations, observer missions or undertaking representative or staff postings are listed in the following tabular statement. The main overseas commitments...

Overseas Missions. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: Ireland currently has 826 troops serving overseas. This figure consists of 168 officers and 658 non-officers. I understand five doctors are currently deployed overseas. While I do not have figures on the number of dentists, I understand none is serving overseas. The answer to the Deputy's question on whether we are having difficulty recruiting a sufficient number of doctors is an...

Overseas Missions. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: I have consulted my officials about making the document available and will be pleased to do so if there are no barriers to publication. A memorandum of understanding would not usually refer to the requirements of contributing members. It simply outlines details of how the various contingents will operate together, who will perform what function etc. It is not supposed to refer to the...

Overseas Missions. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: I agree that if the reserve Defence Forces, particularly doctors, engineers and other professionals, were to serve overseas, it would significantly alleviate the problem. Various difficulties are encountered in trying to get release from employment and these require deals to be done with IBEC etc. The target set down in the White Paper was to have reserve Defence Forces serving overseas by...

Overseas Missions. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The expertise is available. Of the 826 personnel abroad currently, two thirds have been abroad previously, a considerable reserve of expertise. I cannot remember the Deputy's first question.

Overseas Missions. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: They become involved with community and charitable work with local groups and people. There have been instances in Kosovo and Monrovia where that happened and we give the Army every encouragement to continue with such work. That is why the Army has such a great reputation in international peacekeeping circles.

Overseas Missions. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The breakdown between men and women reflects the general numbers of women in the Army.

Overseas Missions. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: Yes, it is in that order but I will get exact figures for the Deputy. There is no barrier to prevent a person who goes to Liberia from then going to Lebanon or Kosovo. There is an overlap. I see no reason why the memorandum of understanding should require a reference to the triple lock because the triple lock is the law and that takes precedence over any memorandum. I am sorry we did not...

Overseas Missions. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: There are facilities for all medical and dental ailments and the same applies in all overseas missions, the expertise is available. If Deputy Callely has any other incentives we could offer to recruit doctors and dentists, because we badly need to do this to provide frontline services instead of bringing GPs in from outside, I would be delighted to hear them.

Military Intelligence. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: There is no specific allocation of funds for military intelligence. The cost involved is partly met from funds provided from the Secret Service Vote, which is accounted for by the Minister for Finance, and partly from the relevant subheads of the Defence Vote, including pay from subhead B and allowances from subhead C. The total expended on military intelligence is not separately compiled...

Military Intelligence. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: In the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 attacks, the Government reviewed security arrangements, particularly in respect of military intelligence. Consequently, in the past three or four years, provision for military intelligence has been substantially increased. The numbers of Army staff engaged in such work has increased substantially in the past three or four years. The sum of...

Military Intelligence. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: I will take on board any constructive suggestions. It is impossible, as countries such as Israel and the United states will testify, to have a system that provides absolute protection against the possibility of a terrorist attack. Nevertheless, the emergency planning committee includes the Garda and the Army, as well as the Departments of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and Defence. It...

Overseas Missions. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: It is extremely difficult for any family when a member of the family goes missing far from home. I can only empathise with the terrible situation in which the family find themselves. My colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, has the lead role in respect of this issue. I understand from him that extensive efforts have been made by the consular service of the Department of Foreign...