Results 10,741-10,760 of 12,604 for speaker:Willie O'Dea

Order of Business (12 Oct 2006)

Willie O'Dea: I am looking at all the youthful faces over there.

Order of Business (12 Oct 2006)

Willie O'Dea: Among other things.

Written Answers — Defence Forces Strength: Defence Forces Strength (11 Oct 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The strength of the Permanent Defence Force, as advised by the military authorities, was 10,383 on 30 September, 2006, the latest date for which figures are available. This total strength included 313 personnel who are in induction training as follows: Instrumentalists — 1 Cadets — 80 Apprentices — 79 Recruits — 153. The White Paper on Defence of February 2000 sets out a figure of...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (11 Oct 2006)

Willie O'Dea: There are no surviving Veterans of the War of Independence in receipt of a pension from my Department, the last two Military Service Pensioners having died earlier this year. However, allowances are being paid to 229 widows of deceased Military Service Pensioners and to 559 widows of other deceased Veterans.

Written Answers — European Council Meetings: European Council Meetings (11 Oct 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The informal meeting of Defence Ministers took place in Levi in Finland on the 2nd and 3rd of October, 2006. Due to prior commitments, I was unable to attend and the Secretary General of my Department attended in my stead. The meeting discussed current operations including the current EU Operation Althea in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A presentation on the current operation and future plans...

Written Answers — Tribunals of Inquiry: Tribunals of Inquiry (11 Oct 2006)

Willie O'Dea: My Department has had no responsibility for the establishment or operating of any Tribunal of Inquiry or Commission of Inquiry since 1997. We have when requested responded to requests from a number of external investigations including the Commission of Inquiry into the Dublin and Monaghan Bombings, the Smithwick Inquiry and from the Garda Síochána. A number of internal investigations have...

Overseas Missions: Motion. (11 Oct 2006)

Willie O'Dea: I thank all Members for their contributions and for recognising the importance of the contribution of Ireland and the Defence Forces to international peace and security. I am particularly grateful for the kind words and compliments from Members regarding the manner in which the Defence Forces have discharged such missions. This debate reflects the high regard in which the Defence Forces are...

Overseas Missions: Motion. (11 Oct 2006)

Willie O'Dea: Yes, this refers to cluster bombs, cluster bomblets etc. I will explain the purpose of the Irish-Finnish contingent. The Finnish contingent consists of engineers who will rebuild the infrastructure. Any ordinary use of language would describe that activity as being humanitarian. In addition, the Finns will clear unexploded ordnance in their area of operations. Essentially, the Finnish...

Overseas Missions: Motion. (11 Oct 2006)

Willie O'Dea: I move: That Dáil Éireann approves the despatch, pursuant to section 2 of the Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1960, as applied by the Defence (Amendment) Act 2006, of a contingent of the Permanent Defence Force for service with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, established on 19 March 1978 under UN Security Council Resolutions 425 (1978) and 426 (1978) and in accordance...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Reserve: Defence Forces Reserve (10 Oct 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The Military Authorities have advised that the number of Reserve Defence Force Officers promoted from 1 December 2005 to 30 September, 2006 by rank and Brigade, are as shown in the table. Rank Eastern Southern Western Total 2/Lieutenant to Lieutenant 8 13 11 32

Written Answers — Ministerial Transport: Ministerial Transport (5 Oct 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The information requested by the Deputy has been extracted from my Department's records and is set out in the form of a tabular statement, which I propose to circulate in the Official Report. Date Return Date Destination Passengers Status Aircraft 18-Jan-93 18-Jan-93 Dublin — Brussels — Dublin Mr. B. Ahern Minister for Finance G IV Official Runai Aire Official Press Officer ...

Written Answers — Departmental Correspondence: Departmental Correspondence (5 Oct 2006)

Willie O'Dea: There is no record in my Department of any previous parliamentary questions relating to this matter. However, I am aware that various representations have been made by the Deputy to my Department regarding the person concerned. I will arrange for copies of this correspondence to be sent to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Overseas Missions: Overseas Missions (3 Oct 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The conditions, under which the Defence Forces may participate on overseas peace support operations have been made very clear by the Government. In this regard, the conditions, which have been referred to as the "triple lock", must be satisfied, i.e., the operation must be authorized/mandated by the United Nations; it must be approved by the Government; and it must be approved by way of a...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (28 Sep 2006)

Willie O'Dea: At this stage it is not possible to say whether or not there will be savings on the Defence Vote. No savings are expected to arise on the Army Pensions Vote.

Business of Dáil: Motion (28 Sep 2006)

Willie O'Dea: It was not normal when the Deputy's party was on this side of the House.

Written Answers — Defence Forces Recruitment: Defence Forces Recruitment (27 Sep 2006)

Willie O'Dea: On 2 July, 2006 I announced in Government Buildings that I have reduced the minimum height requirement for entry into both the Permanent Defence Force and the Reserve Defence Force from 162.56cm (5'4") to 157.48cm (5'2") with effect from 1st September 2006. This change, which applies to both males and females, will have the effect of increasing the annual recruitment pool of females from 60%...

Written Answers — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (27 Sep 2006)

Willie O'Dea: I understand that this question relates to pension increases due to retired civilian employees of my Department. I should explain that the Office of the Paymaster General, Department of Finance, is responsible, upon the receipt from my Department of the pension rate in each particular case, for the payment of pensions to retired employees. Over the past number of months, my Department has...

Written Answers — Hearing Impairment Claims: Hearing Impairment Claims (27 Sep 2006)

Willie O'Dea: My Department received notice on 25th August 1997 of intention to institute legal proceedings in respect of hearing loss from solicitors representing a person of the same name and date of birth as the named person. However our records show a different address, albeit in the same locality. There is no record of anything further having been received in my Department since that time. The legal...

Written Answers — Census of Population: Census of Population (27 Sep 2006)

Willie O'Dea: My Department has no requirement to use the figures released by the Central Statistics Office in July 2006 at this time.

Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (27 Sep 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The Government Decision on decentralisation, announced by the Minister for Finance in his Budget statement on 3 December 2003, provides for the transfer of all of my Department's Dublin based civil service staff to Newbridge, Co. Kildare. The number of staff to be relocated to Newbridge is 200. A total of 357 personnel, of which 60 are from within the Department, have opted to move to...