Results 2,721-2,740 of 12,631 for speaker:Willie O'Dea

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (11 Dec 2007)

Willie O'Dea: Since my appointment as Minister for Defence in September 2004, I have incurred no make-up costs. There is no record of make-up costs having been incurred by previous Ministers for Defence in the period from 1997 to September 2004.

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (11 Dec 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The provision for official entertainment for my Department is included under Subhead A3.2 of the Defence Vote. The amounts charged against this provision for the years requested are as follows: Departmental Entertainment Year Amount â'¬ 1997 22,725 1998 17,131 1999 30,917 2000 13,830 2001 23,399 2002 15,928 2003 15,537 2004 21,316 2005 13,363 2006 10,066 2007 11,771

Written Answers — Government Information Services: Government Information Services (11 Dec 2007)

Willie O'Dea: Both my Press Advisor and the Departmental Press Officer receive text messages throughout the day, Monday to Friday inclusive, from the Government Information Services (GIS) which summarise the headlines of the daily national newspapers and the main news bulletins. In addition, throughout the course of the day they also receive regular emails from the GIS outlining the main news headlines....

Written Answers — Official Engagements: Official Engagements (11 Dec 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The attendance of my press advisor at official visits and engagements is decided on a case by case basis, depending on the significance and nature of the event, including if the media have been invited to attend. There have been many official engagements and visits in the past year when my press advisor was not present.

Written Answers — Departmental Transport: Departmental Transport (11 Dec 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The Minister of State at my Department is also Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach. No transport costs are incurred by my Department in respect of the Minister of State or his staff.

Written Answers — Departmental Transport: Departmental Transport (11 Dec 2007)

Willie O'Dea: While I do use public transport on occasions, no costs have been incurred for either myself or the Minister of State in my Department for the use of public transport for the period 1997 to date in 2007. The amounts paid in respect of the use of public transport (excluding taxi fares) by staff in my Private Office, my Constituency Office and the Private Office of the Minister for State was:...

Written Answers — Departmental Communications: Departmental Communications (11 Dec 2007)

Willie O'Dea: News summaries relating to Defence matters are provided on my Department's intranet, which is an in-house network and is accessible by all users of the network. The service is accessed via a standard web browser interface and is updated on a daily basis. The service is provided by Business & Finance Ltd. and average annual cost is €27,600.

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (11 Dec 2007)

Willie O'Dea: I use one mobile phone supplied by my Department; available costs are as follows: 2006 — €960.00 2007 — €1,046.97 Costs of these items from 1997 are not readily accessible and there may be statutory and other implications relating to disclosure of individual financial records for periods going back a number of years. I will clarify this and will correspond with the Deputy as soon as...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (11 Dec 2007)

Willie O'Dea: Staff appointed directly by me have been assigned mobile phones, blackberries and laptop computers. Costs relating to these items are as follows; Mobile phones and blackberries: 2006 — €8,595.34 2007 — €9,550.38 Laptop computers are drawn from a Departmental pool and costs are not attributable on an individual basis. Costs of these items from 1997 are not readily accessible and...

Written Answers — Departmental Travel: Departmental Travel (11 Dec 2007)

Willie O'Dea: It has not been possible in the time available to compile the information requested by the Deputy. The information will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Departmental Communications: Departmental Communications (11 Dec 2007)

Willie O'Dea: Blackberries are provided to six staff in my Department.

Written Answers — Departmental Communications: Departmental Communications (11 Dec 2007)

Willie O'Dea: My Department uses two major databases relating to payroll and management information, including accounts, which are wholly operated within the Department. A third Human Resources Management database is used by Departmental HR staff and is owned and operated by Department of Finance. A number of smaller local databases are owned and operated by staff of the relevant administrative areas...

Written Answers — Departmental Communications: Departmental Communications (11 Dec 2007)

Willie O'Dea: Following is the information requested by the Deputy: Project On budget On deadline Joint Departmental and Defence Forces Management Information Framework* Yes No Defence Forces Server Replacement programme Yes Yes *The Department of Defence engaged Oracle EMEA Ltd on a fixed price contract, which was signed in April 2004. The target go-live date was January 2005, however it was not...

Written Answers — Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (11 Dec 2007)

Willie O'Dea: On foot of the commitment in the Programme for Government on carbon offsetting official air travel, I understand that the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is in the process of developing a scheme for use by all Government Departments and the bodies under their aegis. Details of the scheme are expected to be announced shortly.

Written Answers — Data Protection: Data Protection (11 Dec 2007)

Willie O'Dea: All databases in my Department and the Defence Forces are protected by anti-virus software, filters, password authentication and firewalls, which are constantly updated and operate within a closed network. I am satisfied that this affords the highest levels of protection for personal information and all sensitive data.

Written Answers — Hearing Impairment Claims: Hearing Impairment Claims (11 Dec 2007)

Willie O'Dea: To avoid any confusion I should clarify that all hearing loss claims were initiated as personal injury actions in the civil courts and there was no statutory Army deafness compensation scheme. The so-called "Early Settlement Scheme" (ESS) was an administrative process used to negotiate early settlements in hearing loss cases where liability was not contested. The ESS process was introduced...

Written Answers — Management Information Framework System: Management Information Framework System (11 Dec 2007)

Willie O'Dea: My Department commenced the process of rolling out the Management Information Framework system in the Department and throughout the Defence Forces in January 2006 with the implementation of the financial and inventory management modules. Interfaces to and from human resources and payroll applications were also developed in that context. The core financial management system is currently...

Written Answers — Management Information Framework System: Management Information Framework System (11 Dec 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The Management Information Framework (MIF) project aims at ensuring more efficient processing of financial transactions and accounts; better decision-making about the allocation of resources; more efficient and effective management of resources once allocated; and greater transparency in, and accountability for, the use of resources. While the implementation of the new system has resulted in...

Defence Forces Reserve. (12 Dec 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The Reserve Defence Force review implementation plan provides for a phased approach to enhancing the capabilities of the Reserve Defence Force, RDF, over the period to the end of 2009. The introduction of new organisational structures, the development of new training syllabi and improvements in equipment and clothing have been successfully delivered as part of phase 1 of the plan. Phase 2...

Defence Forces Reserve. (12 Dec 2007)

Willie O'Dea: I will deal shortly with the question on the fall-off in numbers joining the RDF. To answer Deputy Deenihan's initial point, I agree there is a vast reservoir of potential talent that should be utilised. This was the view of the Reserve Defence Force Review Implementation Board. The Deputy will recall that the implementation plan for the RDF was to be delivered in two phases. Phase 1,...