Results 3,241-3,260 of 19,162 for speaker:Alan Shatter

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Accommodation (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: The Deputy always chooses to be selective in what he says and his presentation on this issue is consistent with that approach. He chooses to ignore entirely that each individual provided with such accommodation knew that on completion of his or her service with the Defence Forces, they were obliged to vacate the premises provided. Is the Deputy suggesting that the State should provide...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Overseas Missions (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: On 1 July 2013, Ireland received a request from the United Nations to consider contributing a mechanised infantry company to the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, UNDOF, on the Golan Heights in Syria for the tasks of a force mobile reserve. Following Government and Dáil approval on 17 and 18 July 2013 respectively, the deployment of the 43rd Infantry Group, comprising 115...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Overseas Missions (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: As the Deputy knows, there is great volatility in the country of Syria and in that general area. The escalation of the conflict in Syria has affected the UNDOF area of operations significantly in recent months. The armed forces of the Syrian Arab Republic have deployed and carried out military activities and security operations in the UNDOF area of operation. These activities are in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Family Clinics (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: There is no reason any family or individual should feel isolated. They were provided with all the relevant information to assist those families who are entitled to free medical care, be it through a full medical card or a GP card, to make the necessary applications. They have been offered any assistance they require in completing applications. It is important that we put this in context....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Family Clinics (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: The families are well aware of the circumstances surrounding the decision that has been made and the anomalous nature of the service. Deputy Ó Fearghaíl acknowledges that around 2008 the former Minister for Defence Deputy O'Dea made a decision that further families who locate in the Curragh cannot avail of these services. As the Deputy so eloquently put it, he made a decision for...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Family Clinics (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: The stage has come when we have so many personnel based in the Curragh, as I detailed, and their families who cannot avail of this service. Having checked the position carefully, I consider it clear that local GPs have the capacity to take on the families. If any family has a difficulty being taken on by a local GP I can ask the military or officials from my Department to provide the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Accommodation (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: In February 1997 the then Minister for Defence set out 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. Since then my Department has discontinued the practice of providing such accommodation. In addition, given the age of the housing stock, it has been found that over time the properties require...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Family Clinics (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together. I have no plans to change the decision to discontinue the services provided at the Curragh families clinic. The clinic provides free GP and pharmacy services for the families of enlisted military personnel resident within the Curragh Camp and surrounding areas. The service dates back to a time when the provision of medical services for...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Family Clinics (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: I am afraid the Deputy is mistaken in much of what he is saying. I have full knowledge of the position on the Curragh and the families there. This matter was given careful consideration. It is particularly anomalous that some families of military personnel based in the Curragh can avail of this service, while others there cannot. It is an additional anomaly that no such service is...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Properties (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 12 together. As the Deputy is aware the Department has been engaged on an ongoing programme of barrack consolidation since 1998. This programme has brought to fourteen the number of barracks closed during that time. To-date nine of these barracks - Clancy (Dublin), Castleblaney, Ballincollig, Fermoy, Naas, Monaghan, Cavan, Castlebar and a large...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Funding (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: I am satisfied that the level of resources available to the Defence Forces, including, training, equipment and up to date technology, enables the Defence Forces to carry out their roles both at home and overseas. All elements of Defence expenditure were examined for the Comprehensive Review of Expenditure in 2011. In response to these resource constraints, the Defence Organisation has...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Operations (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: I understand that Secretary General Rasmussen referenced the need for greater cooperation among EU member States when he addressed an Inter-parliamentary Conference hosted by the Lithuanian Presidency in Vilnius on the 6th September 2013. At the conference, he stated that if European countries are to have access to the full spectrum of capabilities and forces they require for crisis...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Representative Organisations (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: Since I accepted the Report on the Value for Money Review of the Reserve Defence Force (RDF) which identified the need for reform I have not received a request for a meeting with the Reserve Defence Forces Representative Association (RDFRA). Should such a request be received I would, of course, give it due consideration. The major re-organisation of the RDF currently underway is being...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Overseas Missions (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: I propose to take Questions Nos. 17, 23 and 29 together. I addressed the question of Defence Forces participation in the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) on the Golan Heights in Syria, in answering the priority PQ earlier. The Irish 43rd Infantry Company currently serving with UNDOF deployed to the mission area on 28 September 2013 and achieved full operational...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Emergency Planning (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: The Government Task Force on Emergency Planning, which I chair, includes senior officials of Government Departments, senior officers of An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces and officials of other key public authorities, which have a lead or support role in Government emergency planning. The Task Force meets on a regular basis. So far this year there have been four meetings of...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Departmental Expenditure (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: During the period 9 to 15 March 2013, I visited Lebanon and Israel in a comprehensive St Patrick’s Day programme in the Middle East. My main purpose in travelling to Lebanon was to visit the Irish troops serving as part of a joint Irish/Finnish battalion with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). I was accompanied on this trip by the Chief of Staff, three officials...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Family Clinics (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: A full analysis of the service provided at the Curragh Families Clinic was undertaken prior to the decision being taken to discontinue the services being provided. The analysis concluded that the service provided by the Curragh Families Clinic is an anomaly in that it is a benefit which is only available to a relatively small number of families of enlisted personnel resident within the...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Remuneration (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: Rates of remuneration and conditions of employment in each part of the Irish public sector have traditionally been set by reference to levels of pay available in related public sector employments. In this regard, the level of remuneration in the Defence sector has maintained relativity with the levels available in other related public sector employments. I fully appreciate that many of our...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Overseas Missions (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: The statutory authority for the despatch of contingents of the Permanent Defence Force for service overseas as part of an International Force, is set out in Section 2 of the Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1960, as amended by the Defence (Amendment) Act 2006. This provision is commonly referred to as the "triple lock" and comprises three requirements namely: - the authorisation of the...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Overseas Missions (6 Nov 2013)

Alan Shatter: As of 1 November 2013, Ireland is contributing approximately 560 Defence Forces personnel to 14 different missions throughout the world. Full details of all personnel currently serving overseas are listed in the tabular statement below. The main overseas missions in which Defence Forces personnel are currently deployed are the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) with 356...