Results 15,881-15,900 of 19,162 for speaker:Alan Shatter

Written Answers — Department of Defence: European Council Meetings (5 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: The next Foreign Affairs Council in Defence Ministers format will take place in Brussels on the 18th and 19th November. The provisional agenda for the meeting was circulated last week. The first session will take place on the 18th November with a joint meeting of Foreign Affairs and Defence Ministers who will be presented with the opportunity to discuss Common Security and Defence Policy...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Representative Organisations (5 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: Last month, I accepted the invitation extended to me by PDFORRA's National Executive to attend their twenty second Annual Delegate Conference, held this year in Wexford. While there, I addressed delegates on a wide range of issues. These included the preparation of the new White Paper on Defence; the significant reorganisational reforms over the last twelve months; the participation of...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Overseas Missions (5 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: As of 01 November 2013, Ireland is contributing approximately 560 Defence Forces personnel to 14 different missions throughout the world. Full details of all personnel currently serving overseas are listed in the tabular statement attached. The main overseas missions in which Defence Forces personnel are currently deployed are the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) with 356...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Recruitment (5 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: I am advised by the Military Authorities that the strength of the Permanent Defence Force, at 30 September 2013, the latest date for which details are available, was 9,188 comprising 7,379 Army, 784 Air Corps and 1,025 Naval Service personnel. These figures do not include 80 members of the PDF who are currently on career breaks or on leave of absence. As the Permanent Defence Force is...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Departmental Expenditure (5 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: The expenditure details requested in respect of my Department are outlined in the following table: Gross Expenditure 2013 Estimate €000 22014 Estimate €000 Change €000 Vote 36 Vote 36 (Defence) 668 0 680,4320,43 6676,652 --3,780 Vo Vote 35 (Army Pensions) 2 214,812 2 220,990 + 6,178 The 2014 expenditure provision for Vote...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Family Clinics (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together. I have no plans to change the decision to discontinue the services provided at the Curragh families clinic. The clinic provides free GP and pharmacy services for the families of enlisted military personnel resident within the Curragh Camp and surrounding areas. The service dates back to a time when the provision of medical services for...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Family Clinics (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: I am afraid the Deputy is mistaken in much of what he is saying. I have full knowledge of the position on the Curragh and the families there. This matter was given careful consideration. It is particularly anomalous that some families of military personnel based in the Curragh can avail of this service, while others there cannot. It is an additional anomaly that no such service is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Family Clinics (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: There is no reason any family or individual should feel isolated. They were provided with all the relevant information to assist those families who are entitled to free medical care, be it through a full medical card or a GP card, to make the necessary applications. They have been offered any assistance they require in completing applications. It is important that we put this in context....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Family Clinics (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: The families are well aware of the circumstances surrounding the decision that has been made and the anomalous nature of the service. Deputy Ó Fearghaíl acknowledges that around 2008 the former Minister for Defence Deputy O'Dea made a decision that further families who locate in the Curragh cannot avail of these services. As the Deputy so eloquently put it, he made a decision for...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Family Clinics (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: The stage has come when we have so many personnel based in the Curragh, as I detailed, and their families who cannot avail of this service. Having checked the position carefully, I consider it clear that local GPs have the capacity to take on the families. If any family has a difficulty being taken on by a local GP I can ask the military or officials from my Department to provide the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Accommodation (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: In February 1997 the then Minister for Defence set out policy on married quarters on the basis that they were largely an anachronism and that they should be discontinued in a managed and orderly way. Since then my Department has discontinued the practice of providing such accommodation. In addition, given the age of the housing stock, it has been found that over time the properties require...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Accommodation (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: In the context of their serving in the Defence Forces, those provided with accommodation knew that upon their ceasing to serve, the accommodation had to be vacated. However, they did not vacate it. For many years, this matter has been dealt with as carefully and sensitively as possible. The Department does not have a role in the provision of housing accommodation for the general public...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Accommodation (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: The Deputy always chooses to be selective in what he says and his presentation on this issue is consistent with that approach. He chooses to ignore entirely that each individual provided with such accommodation knew that on completion of his or her service with the Defence Forces, they were obliged to vacate the premises provided. Is the Deputy suggesting that the State should provide...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Overseas Missions (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: On 1 July 2013, Ireland received a request from the United Nations to consider contributing a mechanised infantry company to the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, UNDOF, on the Golan Heights in Syria for the tasks of a force mobile reserve. Following Government and Dáil approval on 17 and 18 July 2013 respectively, the deployment of the 43rd Infantry Group, comprising 115...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Overseas Missions (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: As the Deputy knows, there is great volatility in the country of Syria and in that general area. The escalation of the conflict in Syria has affected the UNDOF area of operations significantly in recent months. The armed forces of the Syrian Arab Republic have deployed and carried out military activities and security operations in the UNDOF area of operation. These activities are in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Overseas Missions (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: A humanitarian tragedy is being played out in Syria and unfortunately, as I stated on a previous occasion, no solution is in sight to bring an end to the terrible conflict. We know there are now more than 2 million refugees located in countries outside Syria; there are in the region of 5 million displaced persons in Syria; and there are outbreaks of diseases in Syria. Forces on all sides...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Medicinal Products (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: This is an issue that the Deputy has raised with me previously. Having regard to current and potential litigation, the Department established a working group in January 2011 to examine the use of Lariam and other anti-malarial drugs in the Defence Forces. The group comprises representatives of the Defence Forces Medical Corps, the Defence Forces personnel policy branch and the Defence...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Medicinal Products (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: As the Deputy is aware, in replying to various Dáil questions over the past two years I have very substantially put in the public domain all of the issues with regard to Lariam, its importance and the fact that no member of our Defence Forces has contracted malaria - a disease which kills hundreds of thousands of people annually - in the context of missions abroad. I am advised by the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Medicinal Products (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: I will not go into the detail of the report beyond saying to the Deputy that, having read it very carefully, I know that the report addresses all of the issues with regard to Lariam and the various medical concerns that arise with regard to Lariam, malaria and the use of the available alternatives. I can say to the Deputy that the report confirms that the approach taken by our Defence...

Other Questions: Defence Forces Properties (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: Not only does the Deputy have no monopoly on compassion, she also has the same tendency as her colleague sitting beside her to be selective with the facts and the background of issues. As I mentioned earlier, in February 1997 the then Minister for Defence set out policy on married quarters on the basis that they were largely an anachronism and that they should be discontinued in a managed...