Results 10,781-10,800 of 12,604 for speaker:Willie O'Dea

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (5 Jul 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The value of advertising in newspapers, magazines and electronic media placed by my Department, including the Defence Forces, in respect of each year since 2002 is set out in the following table: Year Value of Advertising € 2005 455,780 2004 296,827 2003 183,655 2002 240,373

Written Answers — Defence Forces Retirement: Defence Forces Retirement (5 Jul 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The person concerned retired on age grounds earlier this year. He has been paid the bulk of his retirement lump sum. Payment of his pension entitlement and the balance of his retirement lump sum will be made in the next few weeks.

Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (4 Jul 2006)

Willie O'Dea: I thank Members for the interest they have taken in this timely legislation. I appreciate their kind remarks concerning the work members of our Defence Forces undertake on overseas operations. Wherever they are our troops serve with professionalism, dedication, courage and unselfish humanity. Their commitment, service and loyalty to the traditions of the Defence Forces contribute extensively...

Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (4 Jul 2006)

Willie O'Dea: He raised again the old question of established and authorised. I gave a commitment in the House in reply to oral parliamentary questions that I would publish the advice of the Attorney General if I could. To publish the advice which the Government gets from the Attorney General, one must get the permission of the Attorney General. So far I have not got that permission. However, I can say...

Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (4 Jul 2006)

Willie O'Dea: They are not on active service. That is the legal advice and position. Nobody is on active service unless they are deemed to be so by legislation which sets out the circumstances thereof and establishes the categories of people deemed to be on active service. It does not include the category cited by the Deputy. I repeat that people abroad, under any of the headings of section 3, are not on...

Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (4 Jul 2006)

Willie O'Dea: Not necessarily. That depends on the host state. It may, in certain circumstances, give people the permission to carry side arms or arms for their own protection, but they are not on active service. People going abroad——

Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Second Stage. (4 Jul 2006)

Willie O'Dea: On the question raised by Deputy Costello on section 8 we spoke informally earlier. I have checked it out. I will get the advice in writing and forward it to the Deputy. Under section 8, the resolution of the Dáil will be to ratify the actual deployment into active service, as it were. There will be no resolution of the Dáil to ratify the initial embarkation. It is not the intention to do...

Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 Jul 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The provision the amendment addresses is the dispatch of personnel to serve in secondments in international organisations. The amendment proposes to add the term "battle groups" to the section, namely "the European Union or any institution or body of the European Union". A battle group is not a body or an institution of the European Union and as such, the amendment makes no sense. Personnel...

Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 Jul 2006)

Willie O'Dea: That is what he said.

Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 Jul 2006)

Willie O'Dea: I accept that.

Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 Jul 2006)

Willie O'Dea: Amendment No. 2 would leave the definition of international United Nations force the same as it is currently in the 1993 Act. It would completely subvert the purpose of the definition in this Bill which is designed to provide for the full range of terminology used by the United Nations Security Council. Amendment No. 3 would simply add the word "authorised" to the existing definition of...

Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 Jul 2006)

Willie O'Dea: I cannot do so without the permission of the Attorney General, as Deputy Costello knows. The 1960 Defence Act stated that Ireland is entitled to send troops overseas on a mission "established" by the United Nations. In recent years the United Nations has farmed out the organisation of some of these missions to regional bodies such as the EU, the African Union etc. The question arose when the...

Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 Jul 2006)

Willie O'Dea: We have consulted our mission to the UN in New York and taken advice from them. We are trying to have an all-embracing definition so that if the United Nations words a resolution in a certain way, our defence legislation corresponds with it. If the mission is desirable we should not be prevented by a technicality from the definition in the defence legislation not being exhaustive enough to...

Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 Jul 2006)

Willie O'Dea: Deputy Gormley may refer to terms such as "authorised", "endorsed", "supported", "approved" and "otherwise sanctioned", but under this legislation there can be no deployment whatever of Irish troops on peacekeeping missions unless there is a specific resolution of the United Nations which will give rise to that. The Deputy mentioned Iraq. The argument put forward by the US Government, as I...

Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 Jul 2006)

Willie O'Dea: I used the term "usually". That is what I said last Sunday and I am saying the same now.

Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 Jul 2006)

Willie O'Dea: I do not propose to confine myself that way.

Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 Jul 2006)

Willie O'Dea: They will not be pre-deployed into a theatre of war. Surely the Deputy can understand that and agree with it.

Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 Jul 2006)

Willie O'Dea: There are two issues here. We should forget about prior deployment for the moment. I will give an example of a normal situation where people deploy from their own country into a battle group that has already been sanctioned to go. That case is straightforward. The battle group will be waiting for a United Nations resolution and will decide to get together, either in the framework nation or...

Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 Jul 2006)

Willie O'Dea: Yes. That will be two countries that will have a legal requirement. The Norwegians do not have a difficulty with it and I do not see why we should either.

Defence (Amendment) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages. (4 Jul 2006)

Willie O'Dea: There are other situations where a country will not be able to deploy, not just because it is a political imperative. Some countries have baggage such as a colonial past and will not want to send soldiers into a particular region. That is an imperative which does not apply to us and we should not always think of ourselves as the non-participant. As that is the reality in multinational battle...