Results 1,681-1,700 of 12,630 for speaker:Willie O'Dea

Overseas Missions. (22 Jun 2006)

Willie O'Dea: It will depend on the circumstances of the mission. In regard to what the Deputy said about a force being endorsed, supported, sanctioned and so on, the law provides and will continue to provide that we will only commission troops on international peacekeeping operations if the United Nations directs that we do so. Everybody knows the United Nations want troops to keep the peace or to prevent...

Overseas Missions. (22 Jun 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The advice on that matter has been given by the Attorney General with reference to a particular article in the Constitution. The advice is that those people are not unconstitutionally allowed to come here whereas contingents of troops coming here bearing arms would be unconstitutional.

Overseas Missions. (22 Jun 2006)

Willie O'Dea: Deputy Costello has already asked me for that and I have told him I will try to procure it.

Defence Forces Retirement. (22 Jun 2006)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 78 together. There is no judicial decision of the courts relating to the compulsory retirement of the individual concerned from the Permanent Defence Force in 1969, nor is there a judicial decision that fair procedures were not followed with regard to the retirement of the individual from the Permanent Defence Force in 1969. The High Court judgment of 27...

Defence Forces Retirement. (22 Jun 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The fact somebody is dismissed from the Army does not automatically mean he or she was unfairly dismissed.

Defence Forces Retirement. (22 Jun 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The Judge Advocate General's report was quashed on the basis that proper procedures were not followed. It would be impossible to reconstitute that procedure because the nature of the court decision was that the type of inquiry necessary is not appropriate. It would be an inquiry where, on one side, the applicant gives oral evidence, but on the other side, we would have only the dusty archives...

Written Answers — National Emergency Plan: National Emergency Plan (22 Jun 2006)

Willie O'Dea: My colleague, Mr. Dick Roche, T.D., Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government has responsibility for the National Emergency Plan for Nuclear Accidents and he has informed me that the Irish Government has in place the National Emergency Plan for Nuclear Accidents. The Plan was first drawn up and published in 1992 and the most recent revision took place in December 2005. This Plan...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Property: Defence Forces Property (22 Jun 2006)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 and 205 together. The Government agreed on 16 December 2003 to the release of circa 2.5 acres at St. Bricin's Military Hospital, Dublin for inclusion in the Sustaining Progress Affordable Housing Initiative. The primary purpose of the Initiative is to maximize the early delivery of affordable housing units. The site is being transferred to Dublin City...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Property: Defence Forces Property (22 Jun 2006)

Willie O'Dea: Bere Island, Co. Cork, was among the Coastal Defence Properties handed over to Irish administration in 1938. At that time, approximately 800 acres was taken over by my Department. However, since the 1960's, the State has sold a considerable area of land and my Department currently administers approximately 176 acres on the island. The property is vested in the Minister for Finance.

Written Answers — Military Medals: Military Medals (22 Jun 2006)

Willie O'Dea: As I indicated in the course of my reply to the Adjournment debate in the Seanad on the 17th May 2006, my Department receives requests from time to time for the replacement of lost, stolen or destroyed medals awarded to Veterans of the 1916 Rising and the War of Independence. It has been settled Departmental policy for many years that replacement medals were issued on a once only basis on...

Written Answers — Overseas Missions: Overseas Missions (22 Jun 2006)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 16, 22, 40 and 47 together. Ireland is currently contributing 678 Defence Forces personnel to 19 different missions throughout the world. Full details of all personnel currently serving overseas are listed in the tabular statement. The main commitments are to the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), with 333 personnel, to the NATO-led International...

Written Answers — National Emergency Plan: National Emergency Plan (22 Jun 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The Inter-Departmental Working Group on Emergency Planning plays a key role in supporting the work of the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning. This Working Group comprises officials representing Government Departments and Public Authorities with lead or principal support roles in Government Emergency Plans. The Inter-Departmental Working Group is chaired by the Office of Emergency...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Recruitment: Defence Forces Recruitment (22 Jun 2006)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 18 and 69 together. I am pleased to say that I have recently received the military authorities report on the minimum height standards for Defence Force personnel prepared in the context of encouraging more women to apply to join the Defence Forces. The report deals comprehensively with the complex issues relating to this matter and as such requires careful...

Written Answers — Overseas Missions: Overseas Missions (22 Jun 2006)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 19 and 24 together. A computer and security card, which were the subject of a recent article in the print media, were stolen from a member of the Permanent Defence Force, who was serving with the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) monitoring mission in Georgia in April 2004. The computer was taken from the officer's apartment together...

Written Answers — National Emergency Plan: National Emergency Plan (22 Jun 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The Government Task Force on Emergency Planning meets on a regular basis. The last such meeting was held on Wednesday 31st May 2006. This was the 47th meeting since the Task Force was established in 2001. I chair these meetings. The membership of the Task Force includes Ministers, Senior Officials of Government Departments, Senior Officers of the Defence Forces and An Garda Síochána, and...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Property: Defence Forces Property (22 Jun 2006)

Willie O'Dea: Representatives from the Department of Health and Children and the Health Service Executive made a number of visits to St. Bricin's Military Hospital in 2005 to review the facilities and to consider the feasibility of the hospital being utilised for public health purposes. Following detailed consideration, the view was that St. Bricin's was not suitable for use as an acute or sub-acute...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Equipment: Defence Forces Equipment (22 Jun 2006)

Willie O'Dea: Defence Forces personnel serving on all overseas missions are equipped with the most modern and effective equipment. This equipment enables troops to carry out the mission assigned, as well as providing the required protection specific to the mission. Currently there is a total of 184 vehicles in use by Defence Forces on overseas missions, details of which are listed on the tabular statement....

Written Answers — Air Corps Equipment: Air Corps Equipment (22 Jun 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The Air Corps is the air component of the Defence Forces and as such its military roles and functions are those of an Army Air Corps rather than a conventional military air service. The Air Corps has traditionally discharged a mix of functions based on the need to supply a range of different services. Over the years a generally favourable security climate resulted in the need for a very...

Written Answers — Reserve Defence Force: Reserve Defence Force (22 Jun 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The Reserve Defence Force's most important contribution, as outlined in the White Paper on Defence, is to support the Permanent Defence Force in its contingency defence roles in an emergency situation. In peacetime, the main function of the RDF centres on training and preparing for these contingency roles. The Reserve Defence Force Review Implementation Plan, which was formally launched in...

Written Answers — European Defence Agency: European Defence Agency (22 Jun 2006)

Willie O'Dea: A decision to establish an intergovernmental agency in the field of defence capabilities development, research, acquisition and armaments, known as the European Defence Agency (EDA) was formally adopted at the General Affairs and External Relations Council meeting on 12 July, 2004. At the meeting of the European Defence Agency Steering Board on 21 November 2005, agreement was reached on an...