Results 4,121-4,140 of 12,635 for speaker:Willie O'Dea

Naval Service Vessels. (6 May 2009)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to answer Questions Nos. 64 and 103 together. The the value for money review of Naval Service vessel maintenance was recently completed and was laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas earlier this month. The review comprehensively examines all aspects of Naval Service vessel maintenance and was undertaken by a steering committee comprised of civilian personnel from the Departments...

Naval Service Vessels. (6 May 2009)

Willie O'Dea: I agree with the Deputy. The management team has already been put in place and work on the preventative maintenance manuals has already commenced. The value for money review highlighted a number of issues, on many of which the Naval Service was already working. As already stated, the Department of Defence has a good record in implementing the findings of value for money reviews. In view...

Naval Service Vessels. (6 May 2009)

Willie O'Dea: Yes.

Naval Service Vessels. (6 May 2009)

Willie O'Dea: The value for money review discovered there was a low incidence of unscheduled maintenance resulting in lost patrol days. However, it also discovered that the situation could be improved in two ways. The first of these is by putting in place a dedicated maintenance management team in place, which has been done, and the second is by drawing up preventative maintenance manuals for each ship,...

Naval Service Vessels. (6 May 2009)

Willie O'Dea: I would appreciate all the assistance Deputy O'Shea can provide when I am discussing this matter with the Department of Finance. It is true that the older a vessel, the more difficult and expensive it is to maintain. The position will improve as a result of the implementation of the recommendations in the value for money review. We are all aware that approximately 30 years is the extent of...

Departmental Properties. (6 May 2009)

Willie O'Dea: Haulbowline Island comprises approximately 84 acres. The property is vested in the Minister for Finance. The Naval Service currently occupies approximately 40 acres and these lands are administered by my Department. The balance of the island lands were formerly under lease to Irish Ispat, formerly Irish Steel, prior to the liquidation of that company. The Department of the Environment,...

Departmental Properties. (6 May 2009)

Willie O'Dea: I agree we need more territory. Deputy Stanton is correct about that. We have expressed our interest in acquiring more for the reasons he stated. I understand this matter will shortly become live when the working group under the aegis of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment meets. I understand it is about to be established and we will be represented on that working group....

Departmental Properties. (6 May 2009)

Willie O'Dea: It certainly will not be years. I am informed it will be very shortly. I will try to get a more precise timescale for the Deputy.

Reserve Defence Force. (6 May 2009)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 66, 69, 83, 84, 89, 97, 99 and 104 together. The Reserve Defence Force review implementation plan provides for the phased enhancement of the Reserve over the period from 2004 to the end of 2009. Significant progress has been made to date in implementing the plan. The Reserve has been re-organised along similar lines to the Permanent Defence Force. There has...

Reserve Defence Force. (6 May 2009)

Willie O'Dea: Regarding Deputy Deenihan's first question, the numbers in the Reserve on 31 March last were 7,513 personnel - 5,761 male and 1,752 female.

Reserve Defence Force. (6 May 2009)

Willie O'Dea: I will communicate that to the Deputy. I do not have it to hand.

Reserve Defence Force. (6 May 2009)

Willie O'Dea: It is something in that order, yes. We will communicate the figure to the Deputy. We are awaiting recommendations from the military authorities on how best to deal with the first line Reserve. Those recommendations have not come to hand as yet. Regarding the integrated Reserve and the initial results in terms of getting a particular group of the Reserve to integrate to allow them step in...

Reserve Defence Force. (6 May 2009)

Willie O'Dea: Overseas?

Reserve Defence Force. (6 May 2009)

Willie O'Dea: It was abandoned because the relevant legislation provides that overseas service is confined to members of the Permanent Defence Force. The Reserve Defence Force members are not members of the Permanent Defence Force but it was hoped to temporarily integrate members of the Reserve in the Permanent Defence Force. I refer to the members of the Reserve who had done the integrated training and...

Reserve Defence Force. (6 May 2009)

Willie O'Dea: The Deputy has asked many questions.

Reserve Defence Force. (6 May 2009)

Willie O'Dea: On active and inactive members, it is impossible to give a precise answer to that.

Reserve Defence Force. (6 May 2009)

Willie O'Dea: All I can say is that the reserve has been vigilant in recent years in removing inactive persons from the roll. Last year 4,321 reservists utilised 81,000 man-days in terms of paid training. The total number on the books is 7,500. I am convinced that the majority of those would be fairly active.

Reserve Defence Force. (6 May 2009)

Willie O'Dea: As near as I can, I will get the figures for Deputy Stanton. On the Deputy's other point, I agree that the reserve is a useful outlet for persons who are interested in matters military. I do not know how many will resign between now and the end of the year. The trend in recent years has been that the numbers joining the reserve have been falling off, but in the changed economic environment...

Reserve Defence Force. (6 May 2009)

Willie O'Dea: The reasons for consistently recruiting have not disappeared. The embargo has interrupted those for the good reason that we must bring the public finances back into control.

Reserve Defence Force. (6 May 2009)

Willie O'Dea: I can confirm that. That is my intention. There is no intention to disband the reserve. On the specific problem Deputy O'Connor mentioned, I already indicated to the House in reply to earlier questions that it is a matter I will take up. I have been discussing it with my officials and I will take it up with the Department of Finance to see whether we can get around that issue. The...