Results 4,661-4,680 of 17,012 for speaker:Paul Kehoe

Covid-19 (Defence): Statements (3 Jun 2020)

Paul Kehoe: I am very sympathetic to the financial issues raised by Deputy Sherlock. I wish it was as simple as me writing a cheque, but it is not. The paymaster is the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, as the Deputy is very well aware given that he served in and understands the workings of government. Any financial issues have to go through the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform....

Covid-19 (Defence): Statements (3 Jun 2020)

Paul Kehoe: I wish I had the chequebook. I will revert to the Deputy on Kilworth. I know any returning personnel from overseas are given an opportunity to quarantine in a number of barracks. Kilworth is available to the HSE. Thankfully given that the spread of Covid-19 has slowed somewhat I am not sure what the HSE's plans for Kilworth are, but I can get the Deputy a full reply.

Covid-19 (Defence): Statements (3 Jun 2020)

Paul Kehoe: The Chief of Staff has been tasked with coming up with some options or a discussion paper on this. If we are going to buy such an aircraft we have to ensure that, given that it will be funded by the taxpayers, it will not be used for only 100 days a year. We need to ensure there is due use of this. We need to bring other areas into the discussion as well as the Defence Forces. As I have...

Covid-19 (Defence): Statements (3 Jun 2020)

Paul Kehoe: A number of claims have been received by my Department regarding people who might have been on leave and who were not able to get back. Those claims have been received from various individuals in varying cases. They state that as a consequence of the travel restrictions on movements back and forth to combat the spread of Covid-19, and specifically UN Under-Secretary-General Jean-Pierre...

Covid-19 (Defence): Statements (3 Jun 2020)

Paul Kehoe: Members coming back from Lebanon have the option of quarantining in their own home or in barracks. Personnel deploying to UNIFIL in Lebanon will go into quarantine together two weeks from departure. I understand arrangements are in place and the chief medical officer of the Defence Forces is very much involved in preparing the quarantine of personnel going to UNIFIL. My Department is...

Covid-19 (Defence): Statements (3 Jun 2020)

Paul Kehoe: There are discussions between PDFORRA and ICTU. This was a recommendation from the recently published C&A scheme, which I recommended at the time. The new C&A scheme is up and running with an independent chair. When the report came out there was a recommendation that the Department would get into discussion with ICTU and discussions are ongoing.

Covid-19 (Defence): Statements (3 Jun 2020)

Paul Kehoe: Can I get back to the Deputy with the exact state of play on that? My understanding is - I can be corrected on this - there is discussion between PDFORRA and ICTU at this time. However, I do not want to say that is the exact state of play, but I will get back to the Deputy with an absolute, full and frank reply on the issue. There is absolutely no delay on my behalf. These discussions are...

Covid-19 (Defence): Statements (3 Jun 2020)

Paul Kehoe: Probably, it will not be a decision for this Government, but it will have to be an issue for the new Government. This is a big decision to be made. I do not believe a caretaker Government should be making a decision of this magnitude. The next Government should make this decision. The Deputy can be reassured that if I had been able to get a decision on this one way or the other, I would...

Covid-19 (Defence): Statements (3 Jun 2020)

Paul Kehoe: As Deputy Peter Burke is very much aware, Columb Barracks, which closed in 2012, is now longer required by the Department of Defence for military purposes. In establishing the Land Development Agency, LDA, at the time, the Government recognised the potential of this site for development as part of meeting housing demand. The LDA has confirmed that Columb Barracks is a key site that is...

Covid-19 (Defence): Statements (3 Jun 2020)

Paul Kehoe: Deputy Ó Snodaigh referred to the plane in which we invested. That was an additional plane; it was not one of the those for which we had planned for last year. It is additional and we decided to invest in it in March.

Covid-19 (Defence): Statements (3 Jun 2020)

Paul Kehoe: I will not be able to reach them all.

Covid-19 (Defence): Statements (3 Jun 2020)

Paul Kehoe: In my tenure, I have been able to deliver a package of measures worth more than €20 million in increases in Defence Forces pay through the independent pay commission, public sector pay increases, increases in new entrants' pay and outstanding adjudications. There have been increases under various headings. I do not have time to go through the pay of all of the different ranks in the...

Covid-19 (Defence): Statements (3 Jun 2020)

Paul Kehoe: I ask Deputy McAuliffe to write to me about Mr. Halpin and I will follow up on that case for him. I know Deputy Troy was in contact with my office about the rotations and we kept him up-to-date with any information we had on same. I was clear from the start that I did not want any misinformation going out. I said that when we had clarity on the dates of return of personnel from UNIFIL...

Covid-19 (Defence): Statements (3 Jun 2020)

Paul Kehoe: Deputy Chambers referred to the UNIFIL mission. As he knows, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, cancelled all rotations of all of our UN missions. This was always going to cause some distress to members of the Defence Forces and their families. My Department, the Defence Forces and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade got working to see if we...

Covid-19 (Defence): Statements (3 Jun 2020)

Paul Kehoe: I welcome this opportunity to update Deputies on the response of the defence sector to Covid-19. At the outset, I express my deepest condolences to all who have lost loved ones during this pandemic and I wish a full recovery to all those fighting the coronavirus. I will outline the contribution made by the defence sector as part of the overall response of the State to this terrible...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Overseas Missions (3 Jun 2020)

Paul Kehoe: As part of its response to the global Covid pandemic, on 5 April, 2020 the United Nations Secretary General directed the suspension of all rotations and leave for military personnel serving in UN missions until 30 June.  The suspension was based on the protection of local communities as well as that of the peacekeepers during the Covid pandemic. On foot of the subsequent efforts of...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Overseas Missions (3 Jun 2020)

Paul Kehoe: As the Deputy will be aware, the United Nations Secretary General,  as part of the UN’s response to the global Covid pandemic, directed on 5 April last, the suspension of all rotations and leave for military personnel serving in UN missions until 30 June, effective immediately. The UN directed that only in certain very limited and extenuating circumstances would any exemption...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Representative Organisations (3 Jun 2020)

Paul Kehoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 and 9 together. Section 2(3) of the Defence (Amendment) Act 1990, prohibits the Defence Forces representative associations from being associated with or affiliated to any trade union or any other body, without the consent of the Minister. In 2017, the European Committee of Social Rights, in a non-binding ruling, upheld the prohibition of the right...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Strength (3 Jun 2020)

Paul Kehoe: The following table details the current strength (Whole Time Equivalent) figures of the Permanent Defence Force, as of the 30th April 2020, and those of the agreed establishment.  Branch Establishment Strength Army 7,520 6,867 Air Corps 886 726 Naval Service 1,094 ...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces Resources (3 Jun 2020)

Paul Kehoe: The Defence Forces Built Infrastructural Programme was published in January 2020.  This Programme, which is a 5 year plan, will provide a blueprint for investment in the Defence Forces built infrastructure over a multi annual timeframe. In relation to the Defence Forces Cadet School in the Curragh, I can advise that a competitive tendering process took place earlier this year...