Results 22,201-22,220 of 26,248 for speaker:Seán Ó Fearghaíl

National Cultural Institutions (National Concert Hall) Bill 2015: Second Stage (25 Jun 2015)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: I start by complimenting the Minister on bringing forward this legislation, which has been a while in gestation. The Bill is welcomed by the Fianna Fáil Party, and we will support it in principle, although we may provide some amendments on Committee Stage. As the Bill sets out, the National Concert Hall will be the national venue for the performance, appreciation and enjoyment of...

Order of Business (25 Jun 2015)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: Last week, the House passed Second Stage of the Urban Regeneration and Housing Bill 2015. It will have a negligible impact on the social housing crisis. The Government has also planned a planning and development (No.1) Bill to support the actions envisaged in Construction 2020. The enormity of the social housing problem is most acute in the greater Dublin area. In Kildare, there are over...

Order of Business (25 Jun 2015)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: That clearly indicates a severe lack of urgency on the part of the Government in tackling the social housing crisis. In respect of the health reform Bill, the Minister read out a litany of financial allocations to address problematic areas in the health service. People want actual improvements in the quality of the service.

Order of Business (25 Jun 2015)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: Will the health reform Bill address, for example, the inadequacies in the child and mental health service, which is completely ineffective because it is depleted of staff? In fact, it is not depleted because it never had the staff it required in the first instance to provide the service it was set up to provide.

Order of Business (25 Jun 2015)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: The staff are not being recruited. That is the problem.

Order of Business (25 Jun 2015)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: Yes.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Reserve Strength (25 Jun 2015)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: I continue to be encouraged by the Minister's positive statements but we must move from positive statements to positive action. Is he willing to arrange for the devolving of control, organisation and implementation of recruitment to the RDF? This would allow the organisation to recruit up to the establishment figure, as required, as quickly as possible. Would the Minister consider...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Reserve Strength (25 Jun 2015)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: I would have thought it would have gone without saying that we would all be committed to the idea of recruiting suitable personnel who will bring added value to the Defence Forces. I am bit worried about the Minister's apparent acceptance of the idea that it is okay to put obstacles in the way of people joining-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Reserve Strength (25 Jun 2015)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: Perhaps the Minister did not say it directly but it was implicit in what he said. Is he prepared to see a defined role given to members of the RDF? Does he see a role for them in overseas missions. The people on LE Eithne are literally fishing refugees out of the water in the way fishermen might do. I could see a role for properly qualified and trained civilians in that initiative and yet...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Reserve Strength (25 Jun 2015)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: 4. To ask the Minister for Defence the measures he is putting in place to enhance the Defence Forces Reserve, and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25257/15]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Reserve Strength (25 Jun 2015)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: It is a little hard to follow the last question.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Reserve Strength (25 Jun 2015)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: My question on what the Minister can do to enhance the Defence Forces Reserve is posed against the background of very strong statements of support by the Minister for the reserve despite continuing discontent among its ranks over the Government's commitment to its continued expansion and growth. It is also posed in the context of the Minister's symposium at Farmleigh, where there was much...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Reorganisation (25 Jun 2015)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: 1. To ask the Minister for Defence his views on whether the essential element of military efficiency and effectiveness is command and control, and that this is only effective when this operates closest to the operational troops; if it is the case that the 2012 reorganisation of the Defence Forces has undermined this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25256/15]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Reorganisation (25 Jun 2015)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: This question is straightforward and aims to establish if the Minister accepts that command and control are at the heart of military efficiency and effectiveness. Does the Minister believe that the 2012 reorganisation has contributed to enhancing or diminishing the whole area of command and control as we have experienced it?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Reorganisation (25 Jun 2015)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: I am not sure I concur with the Minister. To me, there is an inescapable logic in saying that command and control are most effective when closest to the operational troops. At the heart of the former Minister, Deputy Shatter's reorganisation of the Defence Forces was the relocation of the command and control of Custume Barracks in Athlone and Finner Camp in Donegal to Dublin. The control...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Reorganisation (25 Jun 2015)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: There are many within the Defence Forces who would disagree with the Minister. The Minister will recall that at his very worthwhile symposium in Farmleigh, this reorganisation featured as a particular issue. Many would argue, and I would concur, that the formation structure of our Defence Forces was to allow for expansion or contraction as the need arose. It is difficult to believe,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Reorganisation (25 Jun 2015)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: It was a feature.

Written Answers — Department of Defence: State Properties (25 Jun 2015)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: 12. To ask the Minister for Defence if he will commit to donating ten acres of the lands at Magee Barracks in County Kildare, or the value thereof, to the local community; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25088/15]

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Irish Red Cross Governance (25 Jun 2015)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: 16. To ask the Minister for Defence if he is satisfied that the Irish Red Cross has fully implemented the recommendations of the Committee of Public Accounts contained in its report on the Irish Red Cross of May 2012; if his Department is monitoring, on an ongoing basis, the implementation of these recommendations, both for the Irish Red Cross and for his Department; and if he will make a...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Medicinal Products (25 Jun 2015)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: 18. To ask the Minister for Defence if he will instigate an independent study into the rate of Lariam-related suicide in the Defence Forces; if he will include in the terms of reference for any such study, that it examines the Health Products Regulatory Authority's adverse drug reaction listing for Lariam, which has found that of all reported reactions to Lariam, over one quarter are related...