Results 681-700 of 12,629 for speaker:Willie O'Dea

Military Escorts. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: Deputy Sherlock mentioned the figures for bank profits earlier but everyone would agree that what we are asking them to pay, in addition to what they are paying already, will be like a drop in the ocean given their overall profits. I am sure it would cost more to devise some system to take it back from the consumers, given that the cost involved is so little compared to the banks' overall...

Defence Forces Reserve. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 41 together. The military authorities have advised that the strength of the Reserve Defence Force, including An Slua Muirí, is 12,287. Good progress has been made with the reorganisation to date. On 26 July 2004 my predecessor, Deputy Michael Smith, officially launched the Reserve Defence Force review implementation plan, which is the start of a process...

Defence Forces Reserve. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: An implementation group in the Department is operating the restructuring of the Defence Forces. It is true, however, that certain property owned by the Department of Defence, which is being used currently, will not be in use later. I am sure the Deputy will be pleased to hear that we have a standing agreement with the Department of Finance that money raised through the sale by the Department...

Civil Defence Board. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: The terms of the statement of settlement referred to by the Deputy were agreed by both parties in the context of the former chairman of the Civil Defence Board agreeing not to proceed with his application for judicial review. I consider, therefore, that it would not be appropriate for me at this stage to comment either on that statement or on the statement of my predecessor in this House on...

Civil Defence Board. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: I did not make the allegation. I will briefly explain the background. I cannot dispute the validity of anything Deputy Sherlock has said, but except for the settlement, all these events preceded my time in the Department of Defence. When the individual referred to in the question was sacked as chairman of the Civil Defence Board, he initiated an action for judicial review. I told my officials...

Civil Defence Board. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: Yes. He made a statement, and in the agreement between the individual concerned and the Department of Defence, the Department made its own statements. As far as I can determine, the matter is now closed.

Defence Forces Strength. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: Strength figures are usually collated at the end of each quarter. The closest date to 1 June 1997 for which strength figures were returned was 30 June 1997. The strength figures for 30 June 1997 and 1 January 2005 are as follows: Date Officers NCOS Privates Total 30 June 1997 127 455 432 1,014 1 January 2005 156 490 442 1,088 The White Paper on Defence of February 2000 sets...

Defence Forces Strength. (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: Deputy Timmins will be aware that in the 2002 budget, the Minister for Finance announced a cap on numbers working in the public sector and in addition announced a personnel reduction of 5,000. My Department's contribution to that is to phase out the 250 extra recruits over a three-year period. We are still authorised to have 10,500 members of the Permanent Defence Force. Regarding the Naval...

Written Answers — Overseas Missions: Overseas Missions (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 and 21 to 23, inclusive, together. I have dealt with the question of the possible deployment of Irish personnel to the United Nations mission in the Sudan, UNMIS, in reply to Priority Questions on this matter earlier today. The United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations, UNDPKO, has invited Ireland to contribute a small number of Defence Forces...

Written Answers — Military Archives: Military Archives (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: The military authorities advise that at present the strength of the staff in the military archives is five. The military archives are located in Cathal Brugha Barracks, Rathmines, Dublin 6, and are 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. The function of...

Written Answers — Bullying in the Workplace: Bullying in the Workplace (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: Dr. Eileen Doyle and the external advisory committee presented their report The Challenge of a Workplace in March 2002. This independent report addressed the range of interpersonal issues within the Defence Forces. Its contents and recommendations were accepted in full. Implementation of the recommendations of the report has been one of the highest priorities for the Defence Forces and my...

Written Answers — Air Corps Equipment: Air Corps Equipment (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 15 and 37 together. There are a total of 33 aircraft in service with the Air Corps at present, comprising 14 helicopters and 19 fixed wing aircraft. The type and age of the aircraft is set out in the following tabular statement, which will be circulated in the Official Report. In January 2005, two contracts were signed for the provision of new helicopters for...

Written Answers — Public Transport: Public Transport (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: As a measure to incentivise the use of public transport, the travel pass scheme was introduced in the Civil Service on 1 January 2002. To date a number of civil servants in my Department have availed of this scheme. It is the general policy in my Department that, when travelling on official duties, officials should, as far as possible, use public transport when available.

Written Answers — Defence Forces Equipment: Defence Forces Equipment (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: The Defence Forces have available to them equipment for monitoring and protecting their members in dealing with nuclear, biological or chemical, NBC, threats identified from time to time. They hold an extensive range of modern NBC equipment that meets their current requirements. This range includes approximately 7,000 NBC suits, 1,500 of which were delivered in 2004. It is planned to purchase...

Written Answers — Overseas Missions: Overseas Missions (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 18 and 31 together. The specific provision, within the corpus of Defence legislation, under which members of the Permanent Defence Force can be deployed overseas is contained in section 2 of the Defence Amendment (No. 2) Act 1960. Section 2 of the above Act provides that a contingent of the Permanent Defence Force may be despatched for service outside the...

Written Answers — Overseas Missions: Overseas Missions (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: The Defence Forces contingent, which was deployed for service with the United Nations mission in Liberia, UNMIL, in December 2003, currently comprises a motorised infantry battalion, of some 410 personnel. A small number of additional personnel have been also deployed at force headquarters and as military observers. Irish personnel are rotated on a six monthly basis. The 92nd infantry...

Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 20, 26 and 32 together. The Government's legislative programme for the current Dáil session which commenced on 12 April 2005, as announced by my colleague, the Government Chief Whip and Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach, Deputy Kitt, lists in section C my intention to seek Government approval to amend Part V (Discipline) of the Defence Act...

Written Answers — Overseas Missions: Overseas Missions (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: When the Defence Forces are deploying a contingent on an overseas mission and where contingent personnel are drawn from different brigades, they are trained together for a period, in order to improve cohesiveness and understanding among the personnel comprising the contingent. Similarly, from an objective standpoint, it will be important, in order to reach the requisite level of...

Written Answers — Common Foreign and Security Policy: Common Foreign and Security Policy (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 25, 30, 34, 43, 244 to 247, inclusive, 256 and 257 together. The background to the rapid response elements concept, commonly referred to as battle groups, is that at the European Council in Helsinki in 1999 member states set themselves a headline goal that "by the year 2003, cooperating together and voluntarily, they will be able to deploy rapidly and then...

Written Answers — Overseas Missions: Overseas Missions (21 Apr 2005)

Willie O'Dea: The Defence Forces participate in two main types of overseas missions, namely, traditional UN-led "Blue Hat" missions and UN authorised missions, where the mission is established under the authority of the UN Security Council or the General Assembly of the UN. UNIFIL in Lebanon and UNMIL in Liberia are examples of such missions. The second type are missions authorised to be established by the...