Results 17,301-17,320 of 19,162 for speaker:Alan Shatter

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Investigations (6 Feb 2014)

Alan Shatter: First, if I can be of assistance in meeting them, I am always willing to meet the families. I have received correspondence and I am reviewing and considering its content, but I must be realistic in the context of the issues the Deputy has raised. As I mentioned, successive Irish UNIFIL battalions and successive Ministers have inquired into this incident. I can recall on one of my visits to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Properties (6 Feb 2014)

Alan Shatter: The Deputy and I addressed this issue recently on the last occasion defence questions were taken. I will give some information that I previously gave to the House. In February 1997 the then Minister for Defence set out the 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. My Department has since...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Properties (6 Feb 2014)

Alan Shatter: As the Deputy is well aware, many of the individuals to whom she is referring as overholders have been overholding for many years. The Department of Defence and the Defence Forces have given a great deal of leeway and consideration to the circumstances of the individuals involved. If that had not been the case, the individuals to whom the Deputy refers, some of whom I assume are in the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Properties (6 Feb 2014)

Alan Shatter: The Deputy can repetitively raise the issue but, unfortunately, the position will not change. I will not comment on the expertise of Deputy Wallace in the building trade and what occurred with regard to outcomes in the manner in which he managed his construction company, because that is nothing to do with the matter. I have to rely on the advice and expertise of officials in the Department....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Homeless Accommodation Provision (6 Feb 2014)

Alan Shatter: The issue of housing and homelessness is a matter in the first instance for the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. A similar perspective was taken by my predecessors. As a matter of course, my Department does not provide homes for retired personnel, and for many years a process of phasing out married quarters for serving personnel has been in place. As such, my...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Homeless Accommodation Provision (6 Feb 2014)

Alan Shatter: It suits the Deputy for party political purposes to emote on what is a serious issue. His own party was in government for over a decade and did not address this issue. His party took the view that housing and accommodation issues are matters for local authorities and for the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. The Deputy's emoting does not change that situation....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Homeless Accommodation Provision (6 Feb 2014)

Alan Shatter: The Deputy has just confirmed the position. The initiatives in which he was engaged were to encourage, in so far as he was engaged in them, Kildare County Council to take up a responsibility for individuals who were clearly in need of housing and to engage with the trust that sought to deal with these issues. He has made exactly that point. Why did the Deputy so deal with the matter? He...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Deployment (6 Feb 2014)

Alan Shatter: The Deputy's question is about the number of occasions in 2013 on which the Garda Síochána requested support from the Defence Forces at Shannon Airport. It does not reference war efforts or 1 million people being slaughtered. I do not know where the Deputy thinks 1 million people have been slaughtered or why anything happening in Shannon Airport has resulted in that slaughter. ...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Deployment (6 Feb 2014)

Alan Shatter: From the Deputy's engagement with the courts, we know he has no respect for the law. He is now raising issues that fall within the brief of the justice area, but I am happy to deal with them. What he has just said is untrue. He stated that the person he named had been asked to sign a bond not to return to Shannon Airport. That is entirely untrue. What the person has been asked to do is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Deployment (6 Feb 2014)

Alan Shatter: The Deputy is consistently personal with me, but that is his prerogative. I note he did not explain his reference to Nuremberg. I know exactly why he is making that reference. He should have the courage to explain where he is coming from when he makes that reference. In relation to this particular issue, a court order was made and was not appealed, as I noted previously. Margaretta...

Other Questions: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (6 Feb 2014)

Alan Shatter: I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 25 together. The Defence Forces operate a system of unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, as an information-gathering asset. They provide a low-cost and low-risk means of increasing surveillance and intelligence-gathering capabilities. They also provide a forward observation and surveillance capacity of potential threats for deployed units on overseas...

Other Questions: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (6 Feb 2014)

Alan Shatter: The substantial discussions I have engaged in with my ministerial colleagues regarding the use of drones have focused particularly on the areas I mentioned in my reply. Drones can undertake a range of useful functions in areas like maritime surveillance and troop protection. I am not aware of any conspiracy like that referred to by the Deputy. I reiterate that this State does not have any...

Other Questions: Energy Usage (6 Feb 2014)

Alan Shatter: I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 27 together. The Defence organisation has a strong record in the area of energy conservation. As the Deputy will be aware, the European Communities (Energy End-use Efficiency and Energy Services) Regulations 2009 oblige all public sector bodies to report annually on their energy usage and the actions undertaken by those bodies to reduce consumption....

Other Questions: Energy Usage (6 Feb 2014)

Alan Shatter: I am very happy to ask my officials to explore further these matters. It is very important in the context of energy conservation that we achieve the maximum efficiencies and synergies between different parts of Government, such as the Defence Forces, other Government agencies of the Department of Justice and Equality or other Departments. I am very enthusiastic to advance the implementation...

Other Questions: Energy Usage (6 Feb 2014)

Alan Shatter: Deputy Stanton has a very great and personal interest in the new Cork prison and Collins Barracks adjacent to it. Discussions are taking place. I cannot predict the outcome of those discussions but we are examining the matters the Deputy raised and in which I have a great interest. I hope benefits will accrue from the engagement that is taking place but it is a little early for me to say...

Other Questions: Departmental Bodies Expenditure (6 Feb 2014)

Alan Shatter: The budget allocations from the Department of Defence Vote for Civil Defence for the years 2008 to 2014 are as follows: Year Budget (€) 2008 6.248 million 2009 6.148 million 2010 6.061 million 2011 5.585 million 2012 5.585 million 2013 4.243 million 2014 4.240 million I am pleased to say that, in light of the overall economic challenges facing the country, from...

Other Questions: Departmental Bodies Expenditure (6 Feb 2014)

Alan Shatter: I am always happy to meet people where it is appropriate to do so. I will have no difficulty in meeting Civil Defence members and it is unnecessary to raise that issue in the House as a question. As I mentioned previously, the apparent major reduction in funding, between 2012 and 2013, was simply a reflection of the abolition of the Civil Defence board. Many of the costs of Civil Defence...

Other Questions: Departmental Bodies Expenditure (6 Feb 2014)

Alan Shatter: In the context of organisational and assistance issues, these matters have, effectively, been centralised through the Department of Defence, rather than a separate board. Because of this, there is regular contact, on a daily basis when necessary, with members of Civil Defence. There is no difficulty in meeting a group representing members of the organisation, if they wish to meet me. There...

Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (6 Feb 2014)

Alan Shatter: Some terrible atrocities have been committed in the Central African Republic and the news last night and the newspapers this morning reported on a dreadful event in which an individual had been lynched and killed by official army forces. On the specific issues raised by the Deputy, the European Council, in its conclusions of 20 December 2013, expressed its concern at the continuously...

Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (6 Feb 2014)

Alan Shatter: Our participation in a particular mission is always a matter for continuing review. The most recent deployment of our forces in large numbers was on the UNDOF mission to the Golan Heights in Syria where we now have approximately 125 personnel. We were specifically requested by the United Nations to take part in that mission because of the understanding our troops had of the region, our...