Results 11,921-11,940 of 12,604 for speaker:Willie O'Dea

Hospital Accommodation. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: No, 25 beds and the operating theatre. That will be 25 more free beds in the Mater.

Decentralisation Programme. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 36 together. The Government decision on decentralisation provides for the transfer of my Department's Dublin-based Civil Service staff to Newbridge, County Kildare. The number of staff to be relocated to Newbridge is 200. The Government decision also provides for the transfer of 300 Defence Forces headquarters staff to the Curragh, County Kildare. A...

Decentralisation Programme. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: I am delighted I still have friends in Limerick. The Department of Defence owns the headquarters in Parkgate Street. When the relocation takes place, it will become part of the property portfolio of the Department. A committee within the Department identifies properties that can be sold off. Presumably, the Parkgate Street property will be one. There will be a tendering process in which the...

Decentralisation Programme. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: The Department will have no difficulty in moving civil servants to Roscrea, as more than 100 have expressed an interest in taking up the 30 places there. So far only ten have transferred as there is only accommodation for that number. Those 30 civil servants will be transferred and working happily in Roscrea before the end of the year. The 78 who have expressed an interest in transferring to...

Decentralisation Programme. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: I do not have this information but I will communicate it to the Deputy later. Staff are constantly moved within existing Departments. A civil servant working for years on third level fees in the Department of Education and Science can be suddenly transferred to information technology. It is not a question of putting a civil servant into a certain section in a Department forever. That is not...

Decentralisation Programme. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: No, I am not aware of that happening in my Department.

Decentralisation Programme. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: He proposed to transfer the Civil Defence section of the Department. There are 30 civil servants working in that section, ten of whom have been relocated to Roscrea. At present, a building is being leased. The ten civil servants are involved in completing the transition to a leased, fully fitted-out building which will accommodate the other 20. There are ten civil servants there at present...

Common Foreign and Security Policy. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: The European Union Institute for Security Studies, EUISS, was created by a Council joint action on 20 July 2001. It has the status of an autonomous agency that comes under the EU's second "pillar", the common foreign and security policy, CFSP. Having an autonomous status and intellectual freedom, the EUISS does not represent or defend any particular national interest. Its aim is to support...

Common Foreign and Security Policy. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: I have a summary of the study, which I can make available to Deputy Ryan. My reading of the study is that it is possible to interpret it as including a nuclear option. However, this is only one of many studies the European Union takes into account when formulating security and defence policy. The European security strategy, which was endorsed by all 25 member states in December 2003, sets out...

Common Foreign and Security Policy. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: I did not acknowledge that.

Common Foreign and Security Policy. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: Anybody can write a paper which suggests anything, but that does not mean it will suddenly be accepted policy. Deputy Ryan is wrong and should withdraw his statement — it was not an imputation — that I accepted that we would be tied into a nuclear option. I do not accept that. I have told the Deputy, in clear English and in words of as few syllabi as possible, that this is one of a number...

Common Foreign and Security Policy. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: It is a think-tank. The European Union produced its policy in December 2003. That is European policy. The EU took account of everything said by everybody and the analyses of all types of think-tanks and produced its policy for the future. I am happy with that policy.

Common Foreign and Security Policy. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: I accept Deputy McGrath's comments. There is certainly an element of fear but that fear has been stoked by certain people for their own political ends. The Seville declaration is crystal clear. It states that Ireland will not be part of any common defence policy, whether that involves nuclear options, infantry options or any other options. It will not be part of any common defence policy...

Common Foreign and Security Policy. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: That is a different topic. I am trying to answer the question the Deputy asked. If he wants to put down a question on Shannon Airport, I will be happy to give him an answer.

Military Escorts. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: To aid the civil power is among the roles assigned to the Defence Forces. This means in practice to assist, when requested, the Garda Siochána which has the primary responsibility for law and order, including protection of the internal security of the State. The Defence Forces assist the Garda as required in duties, which include escorting cash deliveries to banks, post offices and other...

Military Escorts. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: I cannot answer for what has been happening since 1995. I have only been Minister for Defence for the past six months. One of my first acts was to seek an increase in contribution from the banks. I am sorry negotiations have dragged on for so long. I have made it clear to the Irish Bankers' Federation that any agreement will be retrospective to the time I took over as Minister for Defence. I...

Military Escorts. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: I am not doing this because it is popular.

Military Escorts. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: I am doing this because it is right. In 1995, the banks accepted that they should pay almost the full cost of these cash escorts. If it was right back in 1995, then it is right now and I agree with Deputy Ryan on that. The lead Department on the issue of cash escorts is the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. If cash in excess of a certain amount is being transported, then the...

Military Escorts. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: The Deputy's last point could be used as an argument for never imposing any kind of levy on banks or financial institutions.

Military Escorts. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: Deputy Sherlock mentioned the figures for bank profits earlier but everyone would agree that what we are asking them to pay, in addition to what they are paying already, will be like a drop in the ocean given their overall profits. I am sure it would cost more to devise some system to take it back from the consumers, given that the cost involved is so little compared to the banks' overall...