Results 10,001-10,020 of 17,012 for speaker:Paul Kehoe

Other Questions: EU Budgets (26 Jun 2018)

Paul Kehoe: Decisions on spending are and will always be a matter for the Dáil. Dáil votes will determine how Ireland spends its money on defence, as I stated to the Deputy a while ago. Deputy Barry and many like him with similar views on defence come into the House and give out about what we spend on equipment and defence matters. If something happened to people overseas, whether they were...

Other Questions: Defence Forces Strength (26 Jun 2018)

Paul Kehoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 42, 45, 51, 53 and 58 together. As of 30 May 2018, the strength of the Permanent Defence Force was 9,010 personnel – whole-time equivalents – of which 589 were females. Given the unique and demanding nature of military life, there is understandably a relatively high level of turnover among Defence Forces personnel. This is not new and the...

Other Questions: Defence Forces Strength (26 Jun 2018)

Paul Kehoe: The Department of Defence, in conjunction with the Defence Forces, raised recruitment and retention issues for certain specialists as part of its submission to the Public Service Pay Commission. This is specifically referenced by the commission in paragraph 6.13 of its report. Section 3 of the Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020 provides that the Public Service Pay Commission be...

Other Questions: Defence Forces Strength (26 Jun 2018)

Paul Kehoe: Several specific initiatives have been implemented to increase female participation in the Defence Forces. These include the introduction of best practices in recruitment, such as the adjustment of physical standards for female applicants; special consideration is paid to women as a target group for recruitment; a balanced composition between men and women on recruitment and selection...

Other Questions: Defence Forces Strength (26 Jun 2018)

Paul Kehoe: Where did the Deputy get the figure that 25% of the Defence Forces is in receipt of family income supplement?

Other Questions: Defence Forces Strength (26 Jun 2018)

Paul Kehoe: A little over 1% of the Defence Forces are in receipt of family income supplement. I have addressed this matter until I am blue in the face. The only place where these accusations come from is from the left. Other Members have taken on board what I have stated on this before. I went to the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection myself to check the figures. I ask the...

Other Questions: Defence Forces Strength (26 Jun 2018)

Paul Kehoe: The Deputy's question is "[to ask] the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence his plans to address problems with recruitment and retention across the Defence Forces", and I am outlining them. Had he asked me for the specific figures, I would have had them to hand, but he did not ask that specific question. He does not have to table another question; I will come back to him with that...

Other Questions: Defence Forces Strength (26 Jun 2018)

Paul Kehoe: I met the CEO of the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority last Friday.

Other Questions: Defence Forces Strength (26 Jun 2018)

Paul Kehoe: I spoke to her about the service level agreement we have with the agency, and she did not highlight any of the issues the Deputy has raised.

Other Questions: Defence Forces Strength (26 Jun 2018)

Paul Kehoe: A number of specific initiatives have been implemented to increase the level of female participation. Women's websites and magazines are targeted. I just mentioned sports clubs and organisations as examples. I agree that it is difficult to attract women to the Defence Forces. We must change the mindset. I am not sure why women might think a career in the Defence Forces is not an...

Other Questions: Defence Forces Strength (26 Jun 2018)

Paul Kehoe: I am always open to suggestions. However, I have looked at the British system and a private company does a lot of the recruitment for the British army. This year, 15% of the applications for the cadets have been from females. If my memory serves me correctly, the figure for general service recruitment for females was 13%. However, the Deputy is correct that we must change our recruitment...

Other Questions: EU Meetings (26 Jun 2018)

Paul Kehoe: The informal EU defence ministerial meeting was held in Sofia on 4 and 5 May. The meeting was hosted by Bulgaria, which currently holds the Presidency of the EU. There were two working sessions over the course of the meeting which was chaired by the High Representative, Ms Federica Mogherini. The two sessions dealt with a range of ongoing developments in regard to EU Common Security...

Other Questions: EU Meetings (26 Jun 2018)

Paul Kehoe: The PESCO commitments will include a regular increase in defence budgets in real terms, collective benchmarks such as an increase in defence investment expenditure to 20% of total defence spending and 2% of total defence spending allocated to research and technology. The benchmarks are for the EU as a whole rather than for individual member states; increased co-operation in cyber defence;...

Other Questions: EU Meetings (26 Jun 2018)

Paul Kehoe: As the Deputy understands, regarding NATO, we are not members of NATO but we are involved with it in Partnership for Peace. There were no decisions taken at that meeting, as the Deputy stated. It was more for the participation of NATO member states rather than Ireland's participation because of our term of neutrality.

Other Questions: Defence Forces Training (26 Jun 2018)

Paul Kehoe: The White Paper on Defence includes a commitment to evaluate the potential development of a new institute for peace support and leadership training in the Defence Forces Training Centre in the Curragh. A Programme for a Partnership Government also includes a commitment to develop this institute. It is foreseen that the new institute would have international standing and contribute...

Other Questions: Defence Forces Training (26 Jun 2018)

Paul Kehoe: Initial research and consultation suggests there is a considerable number of national and international operators within the areas of peace and support leadership and conflict resolution. Therefore, in order to identify and leverage Ireland's unique selling points, for example, our neutrality and the Northern Ireland peace process, I felt it appropriate when I was appointed as Minister to...

Other Questions: Defence Forces Training (26 Jun 2018)

Paul Kehoe: Talking about repetition, what I do not want is to have a leadership institute that will collapse in two, three, four or five years' time. I want something that is attractive and will be there for years to come. We have to get the expertise of partners involved. When we let this go out to a feasibility study in January 2018 we asked the company to interact with the Department, the Defence...

Other Questions: Defence Forces Personnel (26 Jun 2018)

Paul Kehoe: I previously informed the House that a Government decision on 18 November 2016 approved the drafting of the heads of Bill to amend the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. This will remove the blanket exclusion of An Garda Síochána and members of the Defence Forces from its scope. It will be subject to the application of the appropriate exclusions or derogations permitted by EU...

Other Questions: Defence Forces Personnel (26 Jun 2018)

Paul Kehoe: The case before the High Court on 14 June was settled on consent of all the parties in the proceedings in respect of one specific aspect of an individual's claim in so far as it related to the carry-over of her annual leave. There was no court ruling made on the wider issue of the claim given the settlement reached by parties. The facts of the case were not opened to the court. Decisions...

Other Questions: Defence Forces Personnel (26 Jun 2018)

Paul Kehoe: As I previously stated, I want the deliberations to continue between my Department and the representative associations. What I said was the legislative process was not embarked upon on foot of the decision made in the court case. It has been ongoing since 2016. It is not just about the Defence Forces; it also involves members of An Garda Síochána. The Department of Employment...