Results 8,781-8,800 of 10,944 for speaker:Matt Carthy

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: It is not provided for in the budget. That is the point I am making.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: Something I noted in the documents was that the percentage of PDF personnel who served overseas was maintained at 19% between 2020 and 2022 but the number of personnel who actually served overseas reduced from 1,607 to 1,550. If we are meeting our obligations overseas but sending fewer people, is it fair to say that our obligations overseas have been decreasing?

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: According to the documents, we are reaching 100% of our target in meeting Government requirements for overseas peace support and crisis management. This target is listed as having been met 100% in 2022 and 2023, but in that time, the number of personnel who actually served overseas decreased. If we are meeting our obligations 100% but the numbers involved are reducing, does that mean that...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: I am referring to the 57 people-----

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: Another way of looking at this is via subhead A4 in terms of the-----

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: The Tánaiste has started addressing my next point, which is on PDF allowances. There is a reduction of €2.2 million in that budget, which is attributed to the withdrawal from UNDOF. Would that not be supplanted by allowances relating to the battle group? Is it the correct to say that there will be no such allowances in 2024 because participation will only begin in 2025?

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: Just being on the battle group will be enough to secure it, regardless of whether they are actually deployed.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: How many members of the Defence Forces are expected to be assigned to the battle group?

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: How many have volunteered to date?

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: At this stage, how many have volunteered for the battle group? There are media reports that it is undersubscribed.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: It may be met by mandatory deployments. Is that correct?

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: Does anyone have an idea? Have we met more than half of the requirement yet?

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: Okay. I have seen the mandatory deployment. Let us say that UNDOF or UNIFIL-----

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: I am not making a judgment at this stage. I am only asking about people volunteering for it and whether there will be a need for mandatory deployments. Regardless of allowances, overseas missions are much more disruptive of people’s lives, notwithstanding the great opportunities they provide members. Will we ever have to deploy people mandatorily on overseas UN peacekeeping missions?

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: The Reserve Defence Force is a matter of great frustration for this committee. We have met its representative group. I do not know about the Tánaiste, but I am not aware of whether there is another reserve army in Europe whose numbers are a fraction of the permanent army’s. In most cases, they are usually multiples. What is the current strength of our reserves and is there a...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: I can confirm that that is not our party policy.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: Is the Tánaiste referring to the defence Bill we are dealing with in pre-legislative scrutiny at the moment?

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: Are there plans for that to happen this year?

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: Turning to capability development, I was interested in the language used by the Minister for public expenditure during the Budget Statement. He referred to "an additional €34 million in capital expenditure, compared to the original plan, to further progress the priority recommendations of the Commission on the Defence Forces and the independent review group, as well as funding the...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: We are still far short, however, of the €246 million that was set out by the commission in the second level of ambition requirements, but the actual-----