Results 301-320 of 798 for speaker:Cathal Berry

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Revised)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Revised) (10 Mar 2022)

Cathal Berry: I welcome the Minister and his team. I have some brief questions. I am not sure what programme they come under so I will fire them out if that is okay. Do we have plans to open any new embassies this year or next year? Did Ireland purchase the building that houses our embassy in Kyiv or do we lease it? If the latter is the case, how much did the lease cost? Has the embassy sustained any...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Revised)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Revised) (10 Mar 2022)

Cathal Berry: The Minister may not be aware of this. Has our embassy building in Kyiv sustained any damage at all? If it is affected over the next few weeks, do we have a system in place to know whether it has been damaged?

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Revised)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Revised) (10 Mar 2022)

Cathal Berry: I welcome the Minister and I thank him for his opening statement. I also welcome his team. I have two brief questions. I welcome the size of the overseas development assistance budget for this year. Do we have anything in reserve or uncommitted? For instance, if Ireland decides to make a further contribution to the European Peace Facility fund, do we have any spare headroom? We know...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (9 Mar 2022)

Cathal Berry: I thank the Minister for his opening statement, and the Department officials are very welcome. I have three observations on Vote 35. On page 3 of the Minister's opening statement, we see that 12,890 people are in receipt of Army pensions. That is a massive number. My observation is that there are 50% more people on military pensions than are actually serving in the Defence Forces. It...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (9 Mar 2022)

Cathal Berry: My question is quite technical and, therefore, I appreciate the Minister may not have an answer to hand. If an enlisted soldier, say, of private or corporal rank, retires after 31 years' service, he or she will get a 31-year pension, perhaps in his or her late 50s or at 60-years-old. When he or she hits 66, he or she will get the old age pension, but the 31-year pension will be pushed back...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (9 Mar 2022)

Cathal Berry: It may for the post-2004 position but perhaps pre-2004 might not be on that.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (9 Mar 2022)

Cathal Berry: I will make a couple of points. On page 5, it states that 19% of the Defence Forces served overseas in 2020, which is a staggering number. I want to emphasise that. When one fifth of an organisation is spending six months overseas, it has massive implications for family separation and all the social issues that go with that. It emphasises why we need to have more substitutes on the bench,...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (9 Mar 2022)

Cathal Berry: On page 20, under subhead A13, I very much welcome the increase in infrastructure expenditure from the guts of-----

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (9 Mar 2022)

Cathal Berry: I am referring to subhead A13. I welcome the allocation of €45 million but everybody here knows that most of the facilities across the country were built by the British and they are crumbling. There is a lot of talk of increasing the Defence Vote in October but some people are pushing back on that because they think the money will be spent on warmongering equipment. The reality is...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (9 Mar 2022)

Cathal Berry: Subhead A23 refers to the European peace facility and €5 million being handed over. I was surprised by that. I could be completely wrong, but normally when money goes to Europe it comes from the Department of the Taoiseach. I seek clarification on that money having come from the defence budget. I agree that an additional €9.5 million for the European peace facility was...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (9 Mar 2022)

Cathal Berry: On a connected but different point, I agree with the €9.5 million being handed over for non-lethal equipment as per the programme for Government and we should honour that commitment, but has there been any consideration of or any final decision made regarding the provision of non-lethal equipment such as helmets, body armour, communications equipment and medical equipment from Defence...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (9 Mar 2022)

Cathal Berry: Is that money completely gone or, in light of the fact the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces has now been published, is there any chance of having a supplementary budget to get that €23 million back? I am concerned because 12 months were spent - I will not say that time was wasted because it was not - waiting for the report of the commission. If the budget for the 2023...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (23 Mar 2022)

Cathal Berry: As the Minister is aware, the Defence Forces representative associations have been locked out of national wage talks for decades now. It is one of the reasons our troops are the most poorly paid public servants in the country. The Commission on the Defence Forces reported in January and has recommended to the Government that associate membership of ICTU be provided to both PDFORRA and RACO....

Bretton Woods Agreements (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (Resumed) (24 Mar 2022)

Cathal Berry: I welcome the Minister of State's opening statement, which was very detailed, technical and useful. I also welcome the Bill, which was supposed to have been pushed through some 15 years ago. Unfortunately, tragic events overtook us at the time. The initialism "IMF" is, for good reason, quite an emotive one for people in this country. It is synonymous with our economic crash and the...

An Bille um an Naoú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Neodracht), 2022: An Dara Céim [Comhaltaí Príobháideacha] - Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Neutrality) Bill 2022: Second Stage [Private Members] (30 Mar 2022)

Cathal Berry: I thank People Before Profit for bringing this very important Bill to the Chamber for debate this morning as it allows us discuss Ireland's military posture. It is very topical and timely. In the limited time available to me I will focus on a niche area that has not been discussed yet this morning, namely, how dependent our Defence Forces are on training and cross-training with other...

Address by H.E. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine (6 Apr 2022)

Cathal Berry: I am very grateful to contribute to this historic debate on behalf of my colleagues in the Regional Group. I would like to welcome the ambassador of Ukraine, H.E. Ms Larysa Gerasko, to the Chamber. I congratulate her armed forces on repelling the Russian attack against her capital city. When we consider the atrocities that took place in Bucha only a few days ago, we shudder to think what...

Seanad: Comhshuí de Dháil Éireann agus de Sheanad Éireann - Joint Sitting of the Houses of the Oireachtas - Address by H.E. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine (6 Apr 2022)

Cathal Berry: I am very grateful to contribute to this historic debate on behalf of my colleagues in the Regional Group. I would like to welcome the ambassador of Ukraine, H.E. Ms Larysa Gerasko, to the Chamber. I congratulate her armed forces on repelling the Russian attack against her capital city. When we consider the atrocities that took place in Bucha only a few days ago, we shudder to think what...

Vacant Properties: Motion [Private Members] (6 Apr 2022)

Cathal Berry: I am delighted to speak on this very important motion on vacant and derelict housing. I pay tribute to Deputy Denis Naughten and our group administrator, Ms Cáit Nic Amhlaoibh, who did most of the heavy lifting in preparing the motion. I very much support the motion. It provides a comprehensive and detailed blueprint. I endorse all the recommendations it contains. I will...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Energy Policy (7 Apr 2022)

Cathal Berry: 94. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the measures he has taken to enhance Ireland's energy security for the next 12 months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19071/22]