Results 23,741-23,760 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Freedom of Information Requests (24 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: In accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, 2014, the Minister for Defence is head of the Freedom of Information (FOI) body in relation to the Department of Defence. Decision making functions regarding FOI requests are delegated formally to civil servants at Assistant Principal and Principal level. Requests for an internal appeal of an FOI decision are in turn...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Properties (24 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: The Department of Defence previously owned a property at Iveragh Road, Killorglin, Kerry. In 2005 Kerry County Council acquired the property for inclusion in a major town development project and in exchange a new purpose built Reserve Defence Force facility was provided on a nearby site. Following the reorganisation of the Defence Forces, the Reserve Defence Force Unit vacated the property...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (24 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: Since becoming Minister for Defence I have received two written representations from the individual referred to by the Deputy. I have also had two conversations with the solicitor for the individual concerned, in order to explore their viewpoint in the context of a future review of the case and to attempt to reach agreement on a mutually satisfactory way forward for a review.

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Contracts (24 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 406 and 407 together. The MoU provides a framework for developing and furthering bilateral co-operation and relations between the Department of Defence and the UK Ministry of Defence. The signing of the MoU places already existing co-operation arrangements in the Defence area between Ireland and the UK on a more formal and transparent footing, while fully...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Deployment (24 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 408, 409 and 416 together. The review of Ireland's defence policy is an issue for national consideration. However, as with the formulation of any policy, best practice and lessons learnt in other jurisdictions will always inform such policy formulation to ensure that it is robust, coherent and meets the needs of Ireland. The response to acts of...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Recruitment (24 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: The Government is committed to maintaining the stabilised strength of the Permanent Defence Force at 9,500 personnel, comprising of 7,520 Army, 886 Air Corps and 1,094 Naval Service. Targeted recruitment has taken place so as to maintain the level of 9,500 personnel and to ensure the operational capacity of the Defence Forces. As the Permanent Defence Force is currently below the agreed...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Foreign Policy (24 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: The issue of defence policy is a national competence and the EU is not involved in its formulation. However, discussions are held in the context of developing an EU approach in certain areas such as military missions, defence capabilities and generic EU policies in relation to defence i.e. cyber security, maritime security etc. that affects the security of the EU as a whole. These...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Personnel (24 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: As the Deputy will be aware, I, along with my colleague Mr Brendan Howlin, T.D., Minister for Public Expenditure & Reform, have accepted the findings of the Adjudicator's Report in respect of the Permanent Defence Force Other Ranks Representative Association (PDFORRA) claim under the Conciliation and Arbitration Scheme in relation to the service limits for Privates and Corporals who...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Recruitment (24 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: The Defence Forces traditionally has a high turnover rate of personnel. As a result, the public service recruitment embargo had a limited impact on the Defence Force's recruitment processes. Cadet induction took place in all years since 2008 while General Service recruitment took place in all years except 2009. General Service recruitment into the Defence Forces is a continuous process with...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Recruitment (24 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: The Government is committed to maintaining the stabilised strength of the Permanent Defence Force at 9,500 personnel, comprising of 7,520 Army, 886 Air Corps and 1,094 Naval Service. Targeted recruitment has taken place so as to maintain the level of 9,500 personnel and to ensure the operational capacity of the Defence Forces. As the Permanent Defence Force is currently below the agreed...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Equipment (24 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: The Defence Forces currently operate an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle System, commonly referred to as UAVs. These UAVs are, in effect, an information gathering asset which have no offensive capability. They do not carry weapons. The UAV systems were acquired to enhance the capability of the Defence Forces to provide a low cost and low risk means to increase surveillance capabilities and...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Recruitment (24 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: I am advised by the Military Authorities that the strength of the Permanent Defence Force, at 28 February 2015, the latest date for which figures are available was 9,2 77, comprising 7,4 58 Army, 765 Air Corps and 1,054 Naval Service personnel. The following table outlines the establishment, strength and vacancies of the Permanent Defence Force, by Army, Air Corps and Naval Service as at 28...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Naval Service Operations (24 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: The Defence Forces are continuously seeking new and innovative ways of maintaining and developing defence and security capabilities in order to provide the best value for money and affordable defence and in that context the Naval Service is involved in a strategic partnership with the Irish Maritime Energy Cluster (IMERC) in Ringaskiddy and the NMCI/Halpin Centre for Research and Innovation....

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Single Payment Scheme Appeals (12 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: As detailed in my reply to the previous Parliamentary Question on this case, the persons named failed to cooperate with a Bovine IDR inspection under the 2013 Single Farm Payment Scheme/Disadvantaged Areas' schemes. The inspection was arranged for 26 April 2013. On 25 April the person named contacted the inspecting officer to inform him that they would not allow the inspection to take...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Woodland Improvement Scheme (12 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: The information requested for each of the years in respect of the Native Woodland (Establishment) Scheme is as follows: - 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Ha. planted 237.47 124.57 362.73 172.21 29.88 16.51 72.92 Expenditure€000 1,223.1 771.3 2,326.5 1,536.2 806.6 726.5 1,277.3

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Woodland Improvement Scheme (12 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: The following is the information requested in respect of the Native Woodland (Establishment) Scheme for each year: - 2007 200 8 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 No. of Applicants 11 29 22 11 6 4 26 Farmer 10 20 18 7 5 4 18 Non-Farmer 1 9 4 4 1 _ 8

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Woodland Improvement Scheme (12 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: The budget allocated in 2015 to support afforestation under the native woodland element of the Afforestation Grant and Premium Scheme (2014-2020) is €2,749,500.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Felling Licences Applications (12 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: An application for a General Felling Licence was received from the person named on 27 January 2015. Following an initial inspection of the application by the Department , the application was referred to National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) on 26February 2015 for its observations. NPWS is allowed a 6-week period to respond with its comments; a response is therefore required by 9 April...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Single Payment Scheme Payments (12 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: An application under 2014 Single Payment/Disadvantaged Areas Schemes was received from the person named on 28 April 2014. However, as the person named has not established entitlements under the Single Payment Scheme there is no payment due to the applicant under that Scheme. In order to be eligible for payment under the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme, applicants must meet the eligibility...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agri-Environment Options Scheme Payments (12 Mar 2015)

Simon Coveney: The person named was approved for participation in the 2011 Agri Environment Options Scheme (AEOS 2) with effect from 1 September 2011 and payment has issued in respect of the 2011, 2012 and 2013 Scheme years. Under the EU Regulations governing the Scheme and other area-based payment schemes, a comprehensive administrative check, including cross-checks with the Land Parcel Identification...