Results 21-40 of 297 for at speaker:Cathal Berry

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Naval Service (21 Mar 2024)

Cathal Berry: I very much welcome this proposed project for sure. The LÉ Eithne needs to be replaced. That is an absolute certainty. Perhaps touching on what Deputy Ó Snodaigh said earlier on this morning, the LÉ Eithne was built in the Tánaiste's home county of Cork. It is a pity we cannot build more equipment here in this country because, as Deputy Ó Snodaigh said, ethical...

Pre-European Council Meeting: Statements (20 Mar 2024)

Cathal Berry: I agree with the agenda of the European Council meeting tomorrow and on Friday. It is appropriate that Ukraine is very prominent on the agenda, for obvious reasons. I welcome the Taoiseach's comments and his condemnation of the death of Alexei Navalny. It was completely unacceptable, particularly in advance of the Russian elections. It is very obvious what happened. I welcome the fact...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (7 Mar 2024)

Cathal Berry: Ba mhaith liom labhairt freisin faoi cad atá ar siúl i nGaza faoi láthair. I would also like to speak about the situation in Gaza. I want to focus on the international humanitarian operation that is air-dropping food supplies by parachute directly onto the strip. I am doubling down on the previous speaker's remarks and I would absolutely be in favour of, and it is far...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (28 Feb 2024)

Cathal Berry: ...a good afternoon. Yesterday, the RTÉ news website aired some very revealing footage of a parachute airdrop of food supplies into the Gaza Strip, which took place yesterday. The humanitarian operation was carried out by aircraft from France, Jordan, the UAE and Qatar. It seems to me that this is precisely the type of humanitarian operation that Ireland should be involved in. It...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Feb 2024)

Cathal Berry: I thank Professor MacCraith and his team. It is great to have them here and to have such broad and deep expertise from academia, industry and the trade union movement, so we will lean on that over the next while. I thank Professor MacCraith also for his role in the vaccination process and for his personal assistance at times, which was hugely appreciated. On his visit to the naval base...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Feb 2024)

Cathal Berry: I am really glad Ms King mentioned that, that it is primary legislation. There is a perception that the complaints process was conjured up by the Defence Forces to keep complaints within the organisation. However, as Ms King has quite rightly pointed out, a lot of these processes were conjured up by politicians and people external to the Defence Forces and these rules were imposed on the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Feb 2024)

Cathal Berry: I find this very positive and useful. I thank the witnesses for their input, which is great to get. We have had external oversight of the Defence Forces before. There was an independent monitoring group that was inexplicably and unilaterally wound down about five years ago. It is a pity that happened. We probably would not be where we are now were that still in situ. Both...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2023: Discussion (Resumed) (27 Feb 2024)

Cathal Berry: It is good to hear it. Having worked in the healthcare profession, I know that the Defence Forces gender balance is infinitely better than the nursing profession or midwifery, for instance. So while it is an issue, we should not be army bashing and exclaiming that the stats are so low. We have to bear in mind that other armed forces across the world are not as army-heavy. Our Air Corps...

Second Anniversary of War in Ukraine: Statements (20 Feb 2024)

Cathal Berry: I wish to Minister of State a good evening and I welcome H.E. Larysa Gerasko, the Ukrainian ambassador. I very much welcome the opportunity before I head back to a committee meeting to make some brief comments to mark this grim and grisly second anniversary. I remember well - I think we all do - when Russian armour started to roll into Ukraine on 24 February 2022. It is amazing that two...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2023: Discussion (20 Feb 2024)

Cathal Berry: ...them for their opening testimony, which was excellent. There have been a few improvements in the Defence Forces in recent years from an individual welfare point of view, with better pay, accommodation, gymnasiums, rations and medical care, and that is chiefly as a result of the testimony provided to this committee over recent years. To echo what Mr. Guinan said, we should not force...

Business Costs for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises: Motion [Private Members] (14 Feb 2024)

Cathal Berry: I am delighted to be in the Chamber to speak on this very important topic. It is a topic that rarely gets a mention inside the Dáil Chamber, actually, so it is good to be speaking on it this morning. In general terms, we are supportive of the State's industrial policy. As Deputy Tóibín said, FDI and multinationals are very important and we should roll out the red carpet for...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Cathal Berry: I bid the Tánaiste and his team a good afternoon. I thank him for his opening statement. I will start on a few positives. In the budget in October, an allocation of €1.23 billion was announced. In the context of the Revised Estimate, the allocation is now €1.25 billion. Obviously ,there is an additional €20 million, which is not to be sneezed at. It is small...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Cathal Berry: I also mention it up because, as the Tánaiste stated, the sectoral national development plan allocations will be coming on stream soon. I presume that the defence apparatus will be fighting for at least its fair share of that. I will hammer home the point that we are, in the context of GDP and GNI*, only getting one third of the EU average when it comes to defence spending. If our...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Cathal Berry: These are fully trained and would just need a small bit of re-induction and they are good to go. Deputy Stanton asked about looking at broader ways of recruiting. There is a lateral transfer programme that Australia and the UK use. They generally poach some of our troops, and they have done so for the last 20 years. Some of these people have been on to me. They are Irish citizens who...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (1 Feb 2024)

Cathal Berry: My question is pretty much already answered but it follows the Chair’s question and dovetails nicely. On the European Peace Facility, the Minister said it was €271 million. That is pretty impressive. It is being used for non-lethal aid. My understanding of the mechanism is that a third country buys communications equipment, medical equipment and fuel, gives them to Ukraine...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (1 Feb 2024)

Cathal Berry: We have a responsibility to protect civilians and it is primarily cities that have been targeted. I will finish on the point that there is a perception in Ireland that we are doing Ukraine a favour by taking in all of these people. To an extent, we are but it could also be argued quite convincingly that Ukraine is doing us a favour by keeping the Russian army at bay. We know what the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (31 Jan 2024)

Cathal Berry: ...energy transition with the promise of cleaner, greener and cheaper electricity. To be fair there has been a lot of progress from a cleaner and greener point of view but there has been no progress at all from a cheaper perspective. Much research suggests that Ireland has the most expensive electricity in the European Union. I would be grateful for the Minister's thoughts and his...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2023: Discussion (30 Jan 2024)

Cathal Berry: We skipped head 34 and I wanted to come in on that. It deals with the re-engagement of personnel. There is mention of increasing the retirement ages and from this committee's point of view, it is important to hammer that message home. It does not make a whole lot of sense, if An Garda Síochána is allowing people to join at the age of 50, for the Defence Forces to make people...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (25 Jan 2024)

Cathal Berry: I thank the Tánaiste for his response. I also agree. If Ireland's response is part of a wider grouping like the EU or the international community I anticipate there would be no adverse effects. However, if we choose to go unilaterally we must expect consequences. In a similar vein there is also the question of sanctions if Ireland were to unilaterally sanction Israel. Has any...

Tribunal of Inquiry into certain matters relating to the Complaints Processes in the Defence Forces: Motion (24 Jan 2024)

Cathal Berry: I am grateful for the opportunity to make some very brief comments on the tribunal being established. I also welcome the Defence Forces veterans to the Gallery. They are hugely welcome, as well they know. I welcome the establishment of the tribunal. It cannot come soon enough as far as I am concerned. I note the comments from Deputy O'Callaghan on the terms of reference. The...