Results 3,241-3,260 of 7,444 for speaker:John Brady

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Revised)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Revised) (10 Mar 2022)

John Brady: I have a couple of points about passports. Have changes been made to the system? We have spoken about the target moving from 40 days to 35. That is a welcome move in the right direction but it is very frustrating for people when they send all the information they think is required and after 30 days it is flagged that some information is missing.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Revised)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Revised) (10 Mar 2022)

John Brady: Yes. I just wanted to confirm that because it is deeply frustrating for people. Instead of the clock stopping, it goes right back to the start. My second point relates to the prospect of opening an office in Belfast. I get a lot of representations from Irish citizens in the North through MLA or MP offices. It is frustrating that there is not a mechanism for elected public...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Revised)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Revised) (10 Mar 2022)

John Brady: Programme E has been dealt with anyway. With regard to programme B and Brexit, it is interesting to analyse the response from Britain to the attack on Ukraine by Russia. Does the Minister believe Britain might now be more inclined to reconsider its refusal to establish a common security approach with the EU? Have there been any discussions around that so far? What potential repercussions...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Revised)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Revised) (10 Mar 2022)

John Brady: The Minister might give us a report when that process is complete.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Revised)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Revised) (10 Mar 2022)

John Brady: I thank the Minister of State for his opening statement. I commend all the work that takes place in the Department on the critical work we undertake across the globe. I have a number of questions. The first relates to Irish Aid. This committee has done extensive work on aid that goes into the occupied Palestinian territories. We held a series of meetings and published a report in respect...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Revised)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Revised) (10 Mar 2022)

John Brady: I asked in the context of the commitments made previously regarding refugees coming from Eritrea and Lebanon, for example, and other countries to see if there is an impact on what we have agreed as an intake of refugees from those countries, given the scale of the crisis unfolding in Ukraine and the huge numbers from there. I want to see whether the commitment stands.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Revised)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Revised) (10 Mar 2022)

John Brady: There was the question of an invitation to the committee to visit Africa.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (9 Mar 2022)

John Brady: I wish-----

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (9 Mar 2022)

John Brady: Vote 35 should be straightforward enough. Perhaps we could take Vote 36 line by line. I have quite a few queries, and I am sure other members do also. This would give the Minister a fair opportunity to come back, rather than trying to take note of every single issue that we mention. Trying to capture all of that in the Minister's response might be difficult. Maybe we could take Vote 36...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (9 Mar 2022)

John Brady: Absolutely.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (9 Mar 2022)

John Brady: I agree with that approach. I thank the Minister for his opening statement. The report of the Commission on the Defence Forces is a comprehensive report and key elements of the report need to be implemented. It will certainly go a long way to addressing many of the challenges and difficulties within the Defence Forces around pay and retention, which certainly needs to be done with...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (9 Mar 2022)

John Brady: I have no questions on subheads A1 or A2, that is, administration, pay, and administration, non-pay, but I have questions on pay for the Permanent Defence Force in subheads A3, A4 and A5. Could we take the three of those together?

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (9 Mar 2022)

John Brady: Subhead A3 relates to pay, which I have touched on. In terms of associate membership of ICTU, the Minister himself acknowledged that time is ticking away, as the public sector pay talks start in May. As a result, a decision will have to be taken very quickly to ensure that the representative bodies can do their work in advance of partaking in those discussions. I impress again on the...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (9 Mar 2022)

John Brady: Okay, I will discuss up to A7. That is fair enough.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (9 Mar 2022)

John Brady: Just to finish the point on that particular scheme, issues have been raised by members of the force and the representative bodies in terms of the three years' service required to be eligible for that scheme. Some 40% of the members of the navy are excluded. The Minister might respond as to what analysis has been carried out and give specific details. There is also a concern that there was...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (9 Mar 2022)

John Brady: In fairness, PDFORRA has outlined what it is willing to do in relation to that.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (9 Mar 2022)

John Brady: I asked the Minister about the Reserve Defence Force and the prospect of introducing legislation to protect the employment rights of members of the Reserve while they are on overseas deployment and so on.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (9 Mar 2022)

John Brady: Has the Minister initiated that process?