Results 3,961-3,980 of 12,631 for speaker:Willie O'Dea

Defence Forces Operations. (10 Mar 2009)

Willie O'Dea: The primary responsibility for the maintenance of law and order rests with An Garda Síochána. The Defence Forces, pursuant to their role of rendering aid to the civil power, ATCP, assist the Garda as required. Requests for aid to the civil power are normally made by a member of An Garda Síochána not below the rank of Inspector. The explosive ordnance disposal, EOD, team responds when a...

Defence Forces Operations. (10 Mar 2009)

Willie O'Dea: Not to put too fine a point on it, I agree with Deputy O'Shea that the recent trend has been quite alarming. In 2006, there were 101 call-outs, eight of which were hoaxes. The figures for 2007 were 98 and 11, respectively. In 2008, there were 180 call-outs, 58 of which turned out to be hoaxes. I have the up-to-date figures to 5 March. There were 32 call-outs, which seems to be a repeat...

Defence Forces Operations. (10 Mar 2009)

Willie O'Dea: I agree with Deputy O'Shea that there seems to be a pattern emerging. I have spoken about the matter on a number of occasions with my colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, and I will discuss it with him again on foot of this discussion. I do not have the information about arrests, apprehensions and prosecutions but I will ascertain it and let Deputy O'Shea know.

Constitutional Amendments. (10 Mar 2009)

Willie O'Dea: The Lisbon treaty will have no impact on the organisation, structure or roles of the Defence Forces. National security will continue to remain the sole responsibility of each member state. In addition, the treaty will not have any impact on Ireland's traditional policy of military neutrality. Any decision by Ireland to participate in EU-led military crisis management operations will be for...

Constitutional Amendments. (10 Mar 2009)

Willie O'Dea: I accept Deputy Deenihan's point. People were led to believe, and some people unfortunately did believe, during the recent referendum campaign that no sooner would the ink be dry on the Lisbon treaty if it was passed than a press gang would arrive in the early hours of the morning to conscript everybody's sons and daughters from one end of the country to the other into a non-existent...

Constitutional Amendments. (10 Mar 2009)

Willie O'Dea: Yes. Unfortunately, too many people believed it.

Constitutional Amendments. (10 Mar 2009)

Willie O'Dea: There is nothing whatsoever in the Lisbon treaty which facilitates, enables or compels the establishment of a European army and since the Lisbon treaty does not provide for any European army, there is nothing to be conscripted into. That is the reality of it. Regarding Deputy Deenihan's question on the need for a protocol, we have tried to make the issue as clear as possible and we will do...

Constitutional Amendments. (10 Mar 2009)

Willie O'Dea: I am only too delighted to give Deputy O'Shea that absolute assurance. The triple lock mechanism has to be complied with before this country engages in any foreign peacekeeping operation. That is the situation now and it will be the situation if the Lisbon treaty is passed. There will be no change.

Defence Forces Reserve. (10 Mar 2009)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 50 and 57 together. In line with the provisions of the Defence Forces Reserve review implementation plan, it is hoped that a small number of reservists will be able to undertake overseas service in late 2009. The organisational changes, enhancements to clothing, equipment, training and the piloting of the integrated reserve, all delivered as part of the...

Defence Forces Reserve. (10 Mar 2009)

Willie O'Dea: It is planned to send 12 people on an initial pilot scheme. They will be recruited temporarily into the Permanent Defence Forces, PDF, to enable the deployment to take place, because the legislation provides that only members of the PDF can be sent overseas. When we are drafting legislation to allow members of the Defence Forces Reserve to be sent overseas on a regular basis, rather than by...

Defence Forces Reserve. (10 Mar 2009)

Willie O'Dea: First, to respond to a question asked by Deputy O'Shea, those sent will be specialists, such as mechanics, IT people and engineers, etc. These are the types of people we are targeting. With regard to Deputy Deenihan's question on whether we will have legislation along the lines of the UK legislation, I imagine that will be factored in when the legislation is drafted. We must provide for...

Defence Forces Reserve. (10 Mar 2009)

Willie O'Dea: I do not know. The position is we have the regular Defence Force and the reserve. What we are doing here is allowing members of the reserve, for the first time ever, to serve overseas. This is a significant development. We are not short of applicants for the recruitment campaign to the Permanent Defence Forces, with approximately five applicants for every position. The campaign is...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (10 Mar 2009)

Willie O'Dea: The position is that under the terms of the Defence (Amendment) Act, 1990 the Defence Forces Representative Associations are prohibited from being associated with or affiliated to any trade unions or any other body without the consent of the Minister. Accordingly, the Representative Associations, RACO and PDFORRA cannot be affiliated to ICTU at present. A similar arrangement applies to the...

Written Answers — Overseas Missions: Overseas Missions (10 Mar 2009)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 52 and 365 to 367, inclusive, together. Ireland has offered, through the UN Standby Arrangements System (UNSAS), to provide up to 850 military personnel for overseas service at any one time. This figure equates to some 10% of Ireland's standing Army (excluding Reserves) and demonstrates Ireland's commitment to the cause of international peace. This is the...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (10 Mar 2009)

Willie O'Dea: The Revised Estimates Volume for 2009 has not yet been submitted for Government approval. Consequently, the final provision for my Department for 2009 has not been settled. I can confirm, however, that my Department will not be found wanting in meeting Government targets for savings in administrative costs.

Written Answers — Overseas Missions: Overseas Missions (10 Mar 2009)

Willie O'Dea: Rules of Engagement (ROEs) for peace support missions are based on the United Nations Security Council Resolution for the mission, the Concept of Operations and the Operation Plan. Accordingly, each peace support mission has ROEs specific to that mission. In general, the nature of the ROEs will depend on whether the mission is a UN Chapter VI type mission (peacekeeping), or a UN Chapter VII...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Equipment: Defence Forces Equipment (10 Mar 2009)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 55 and 354 together. As part of the reply is in the form of a tabular statement, I propose to include that part in the Official Report. The Air Corps helicopter fleet comprises two light utility EC135 helicopters and six utility AW139 helicopters. The Alouette helicopters were withdrawn from Air Corps service in September 2007. The helicopters are operated by...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Strategy Statement: Defence Forces Strategy Statement (10 Mar 2009)

Willie O'Dea: On foot of changes to the Government in May 2008, I approved a revised Strategy Statement for the period 2008 — 2010 in August 2008. The revised Statement updated the Strategy Statement for 2008 — 2010 that had been published in February 2008. Clearly, the economic environment has deteriorated dramatically in the period since the Strategy Statement was published. As with the public...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Recruitment: Defence Forces Recruitment (10 Mar 2009)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 58 and 64 together. In common with other areas of the public service a reduction of 3% in payroll costs has been applied to the Defence Forces. Recruitment was suspended in late 2008 pending consideration of the best means by which to achieve this reduction. My officials and the military authorities are keeping the situation under close review on an ongoing...

Written Answers — Overseas Missions: Overseas Missions (10 Mar 2009)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos 59, 71, 77, 79, 81, 86 and 89 together. The mandate of 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), is due to expire on 15 March 2009. Ireland is the second largest contributor to the mission with 439 Defence Forces...