Results 24,441-24,460 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Department of Defence (Revised) (28 Jan 2015)

Simon Coveney: The Estimate for this subhead is increasing because we intend to recruit more civilians to the Defence Forces. This civilian category does not include civil servants in the Department.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Department of Defence (Revised) (28 Jan 2015)

Simon Coveney: The number of civilian support staff declined in 2014. In 2013 the number was 535 and there were 517 last year. We are budgeting on an estimate of 625 this year. So we are looking to recruit quite a lot of people, which is obviously positive news that reflects the Defence Forces' complex job across many areas. A reliance on civilian staff is an important element for them.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Department of Defence (Revised) (28 Jan 2015)

Simon Coveney: The main focus for 2015 will be the implementation of a targeted recruitment programme to fill key civilian vacancies that have arisen in recent years. The principal areas where the recruitment of civilian employees is planned to take place are as follows. The central medical unit needs specialist staff, for example, physiotherapists and psychologists to provide the necessary services to...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Department of Defence (Revised) (28 Jan 2015)

Simon Coveney: That is the plan.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Department of Defence (Revised) (28 Jan 2015)

Simon Coveney: I thought the Chairman's constituency might be interested in that.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Department of Defence (Revised) (28 Jan 2015)

Simon Coveney: The numbers go up and down depending on what is needed. Spending the same amount on defence equipment each year does not reflect the reality that sometimes we have to replace a naval vessel or buy Mowags, depending on the role at the time. A high-level planning procurement group comprising civilian and military members meets regularly to evaluate ongoing expenditure trends, prioritise...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Department of Defence (Revised) (28 Jan 2015)

Simon Coveney: I do not want to pretend I am an expert on Mowags but I understand they are best in class based on what we use them for. They have been an essential piece of our equipment in Golan, for example, where they were tested in pretty difficult circumstances. My understanding is that they are physically pretty heavy and therefore I presume pretty heavy on fuel, but they are very reliable....

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Department of Defence (Revised) (28 Jan 2015)

Simon Coveney: There will be spikes at times. In addition there are other subheads for equipment. I can tell the Deputy what we are spending here. There is an RBS70 missile upgrade programme. There is a 76 mm weapon for the third offshore patrol vessel. There is a replacement of heavy machine-gun programme and replacement of mortar fire control system. These are the kinds of weapons that-----

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Department of Defence (Revised) (28 Jan 2015)

Simon Coveney: There is no suggestion from me of that.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Department of Defence (Revised) (28 Jan 2015)

Simon Coveney: Let me clarify that. We said we would look at possibilities in many areas of mutual interest. There is nothing binding about that MOU; everything is voluntary. For example, if joint procurement in certain areas makes sense for both sides, we will look at that. There was no suggestion that we would have hand-me-downs or anything like that. I can assure the Deputy that any equipment we...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Department of Defence (Revised) (28 Jan 2015)

Simon Coveney: I will check it out. I am not aware of it being a significant cost because if it was I would be informed about it. However, if there is an issue, we will come back to the committee. None of the experts on either side of me are familiar with it.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Department of Defence (Revised) (28 Jan 2015)

Simon Coveney: That would have been a security issue. People were asked to hand over weapons that have the capacity to fire live ammunition. One of the things the Defence Forces are good at is storing weaponry safely; that is what they do. If there was some kind of decommissioning or hand-over scheme, it presumably made sense for the Defence Forces to manage that. I am not sure if we still have them....

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Department of Defence (Revised) (28 Jan 2015)

Simon Coveney: As I stated before, when the Gulfstream jet was presented for its due service last summer, many extra problems arose. The closer the aeroplane was looked at, the more issues that emerged with it such as corrosion on the undercarriage. I made the decision then that we were not going to spend any more money on it in trying to make it fit for purpose. Given the budgetary position the country...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Department of Defence (Revised) (28 Jan 2015)

Simon Coveney: I believe it is. Many countries have different approaches in getting Ministers and Prime Ministers - in our case the Taoiseach - to where they need to be. We have changed the approach to the use of the Government jet. No Minister can use it without getting the permission of the Taoiseach. Ministers travel on commercial airlines for most of the travel they need to undertake. It is only in...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Department of Defence (Revised) (28 Jan 2015)

Simon Coveney: Eight. It is normally five persons, plus crew.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Department of Defence (Revised) (28 Jan 2015)

Simon Coveney: This subhead provides for the purchase of vehicles and the maintenance of the Defence Forces transport fleet and fuel costs. The breakdown is: purchase of vehicles, tools, equipment, €300,000; maintenance of non-armoured vehicles, €2.4 million; maintenance of armoured vehicles, €2.3 million; fuel and lubricants, €3.7 million. The difference is that there is no...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Department of Defence (Revised) (28 Jan 2015)

Simon Coveney: We could get into a long debate.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Department of Defence (Revised) (28 Jan 2015)

Simon Coveney: Most of our fleet are named after women from the LE Niamhand LE Róisínto the LE Ciara, which has now been decommissioned. Traditionally our Naval Service vessels had been named after Irish females and in some cases mythical names. My predecessor, Deputy Alan Shatter, decided to use names that would help to improve the ambassadorial role that naval vessels have when they are abroad...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Department of Defence (Revised) (28 Jan 2015)

Simon Coveney: This figure is more or less the same as last year. It is a roll-over.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Department of Defence (Revised) (28 Jan 2015)

Simon Coveney: Yes, the provision for utilities, electricity, gas and so on is €10.7 million; furniture, bedding, utensils is €900,000; cleaning equipment and tools is €1.1 million; engineering equipment is €500,000; office equipment and related supplies is €20,000; printing, binding and stationery services is €300,000, making a total of €13.5 million.