Results 3,861-3,880 of 12,631 for speaker:Willie O'Dea

Departmental Staff. (4 Feb 2009)

Willie O'Dea: From the Permanent Defence Force——

Departmental Staff. (4 Feb 2009)

Willie O'Dea: At the moment it is in excess of 500.

Departmental Staff. (4 Feb 2009)

Willie O'Dea: I will get that information. The number is small. It is in single figures.

Departmental Staff. (4 Feb 2009)

Willie O'Dea: There is no immediately plan to do so. However, I will get the number of military personnel, which is very small.

Departmental Staff. (4 Feb 2009)

Willie O'Dea: I accept that.

Written Answers — Defence Forces Recruitment: Defence Forces Recruitment (4 Feb 2009)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 109 and 127 together. The Government decision of 8th July 2008 set out a requirement for savings to be achieved across the public sector. In this context, the recruitment and awareness campaign planned for 2008 for the Reserve Defence Force was postponed. There are no plans to initiate a central recruitment and awareness campaign in the current year. The...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Recruitment: Defence Forces Recruitment (4 Feb 2009)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 110, 130, 135 and 148 together. I have been advised by the Military Authorities that the strength of the Permanent Defence Force as of 31 December 2008, the most recent date for which figures are available, was 10,408. A total of 507 recruits were enlisted into the Permanent Defence Forces during 2008. 441 were recruited to the Army and 66 to the Naval...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Property: Defence Forces Property (4 Feb 2009)

Willie O'Dea: My Department is engaged in an on-going capital programme designed to modernise and enhance the training, operational and accommodation facilities available to the Defence Forces both Permanent and Reserve. The programme focuses mainly on infrastructural projects comprising the construction of new buildings and the refurbishment of existing buildings. The requirement for living-in...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Ombudsman: Defence Forces Ombudsman (4 Feb 2009)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 112 and 140 together. The Office of the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces was established under the Ombudsman (Defence Forces) Act 2004. On the 19th September 2005, Ms. Paulyn Marrinan-Quinn SC was appointed by the President, upon the recommendation of the Government, as the first Ombudsman for the Defence Forces. The Office of the Ombudsman is currently...

Written Answers — Overseas Missions: Overseas Missions (4 Feb 2009)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 113, 115, 141 and 150 together. The European Union military mission to Chad and the Central African Republic, EUFOR TCHAD/RCA, established under the authority of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1778 (2007), was formally launched by the General Affairs and External Relations Council on 28 January 2008. A total of 425 Defence Forces personnel are...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Schemes: Defence Forces Schemes (4 Feb 2009)

Willie O'Dea: Defence Force Regulations S.7 and its enabling legislation, the Defence Amendment Act, 1990, provide for representative structures for members of the Defence Forces including the Army and Naval Reserves. The question of a Conciliation and Arbitration Scheme for the ranks represented by the Reserve Defence Force Representative Association (RDFRA) has been raised by representatives of the...

Written Answers — Naval Service Vessels: Naval Service Vessels (4 Feb 2009)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 116 and 121 together. The Naval Service provides the maritime element of the Defence Forces and has a general responsibility to meet contingent and actual maritime defence requirements. In the 2000 White Paper on Defence, the Government decided that the Naval Service would be based on an eight-ship flotilla and committed to a modernisation and replacement...

Written Answers — Reserve Defence Forces: Reserve Defence Forces (4 Feb 2009)

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

Written Answers — Defence Forces Strength: Defence Forces Strength (4 Feb 2009)

Willie O'Dea: The White Paper on Defence of February 2000 sets out a figure of 10,500 personnel for the Permanent Defence Force comprising 930 for the Air Corps, 1,144 for the Naval Service and 8,426 for the Army. On 31 December 2008, the most recent date for which figures are available, the actual total strength of the Permanent Defence Force was 10,408 comprising 832 Air Corps, 1,070 Naval Service and...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Property: Defence Forces Property (4 Feb 2009)

Willie O'Dea: Defence Forces Married Quarters are provided to serving members until their retirement or resignation. Defence Forces Regulations state that the Quarters must be vacated within 15 days of leaving the service. Following previous attempts to resolve the situation regarding the unauthorised occupation of the quarters in question, a letter was sent to the occupiers on the 11 September 2008 as a...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Property: Defence Forces Property (4 Feb 2009)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 120, 136, 137, 139, 147 and 154 together. The military authorities had conducted a detailed review of the immediate requirements to enable the closure of Monaghan, Lifford, Rockhill and Longford Barracks. In addition to some immediate requirements, medium term capital works to provide more permanent arrangements for the transferring personnel, have also been...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Report: Defence Forces Report (4 Feb 2009)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 122 and 155 together. I am committed to providing a sustainable medical service to meet the needs of the Defence Forces both at home and abroad. The challenges in the medical arena have been recognised for some time and a review of the provision of medical services, in association with the Representative Associations, is ongoing as part of the Modernisation...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Archives: Defence Forces Archives (4 Feb 2009)

Willie O'Dea: The Military Archives, located in Cathal Brugha Barracks, Rathmines, Dublin 6, is the place of deposit for the records of the Department of Defence, the Defence Forces and the Army Pensions Board under the terms of Section 14 of the National Archives Act 1986. Military archive files are held there and, because of storage space constraints, in other locations. A Military Pensions Archive...

Written Answers — Civilianisation Programme: Civilianisation Programme (4 Feb 2009)

Willie O'Dea: The White Paper on Defence (2000) covers the potential benefits of civilianisation and contracting out of certain military posts. It recognises that civilianisation could "..release personnel for operational duties for which they are specifically trained". It could release them "from essentially administrative and other tasks which can more appropriately be undertaken by civilians." The...

Written Answers — Asgard II Replacement Vessel: Asgard II Replacement Vessel (4 Feb 2009)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 125, 128 and 132 together. A meeting of the board of Coiste an Asgard is taking place this afternoon at which the possible salvage of Asgard II will be further considered. Arising from that meeting I expect to get a recommendation from the board within the next day or two as to whether or not to proceed with a salvage operation. I will then make a decision...