Results 4,741-4,760 of 18,442 for speaker:Brendan Smith

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council: Defence and Related Matters (26 Apr 2018)

Brendan Smith: I thank Senator McFadden. I want to make clear that the agenda states very clearly that the meeting is not confined to the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting on defence issues. The discussion is on any matters relevant to the Defence Forces. The Minister of State has a few questions to answer now.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council: Defence and Related Matters (26 Apr 2018)

Brendan Smith: I ask the Minister of State to deal with the facts of the day and not to bring politics into this.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council: Defence and Related Matters (26 Apr 2018)

Brendan Smith: I ask the Minister of State to stop speaking. He will obey the Chair. We have always had a good working relationship on this committee and the Minister of State is not going to go down the political route. He will answer the questions Deputy Jack Chambers has posed in regard to the present day situation concerning the Defence Forces.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council: Defence and Related Matters (26 Apr 2018)

Brendan Smith: Questions were asked in regard to remuneration, pay in Defence Forces.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council: Defence and Related Matters (26 Apr 2018)

Brendan Smith: The Minister of State will obey the Chair when he attends this committee.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council: Defence and Related Matters (26 Apr 2018)

Brendan Smith: The Minister of State will obey the Chair as well as every other person speaking at this committee. I ask him to proceed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council: Defence and Related Matters (26 Apr 2018)

Brendan Smith: Through the Chair, Deputy Chambers.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council: Defence and Related Matters (26 Apr 2018)

Brendan Smith: I thank the Minister of State. I call Deputy Ó Snodaigh, who will be followed by Deputy Grealish.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council: Defence and Related Matters (26 Apr 2018)

Brendan Smith: I thank the Minister of State and call Deputy Seán Barrett.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council: Defence and Related Matters (26 Apr 2018)

Brendan Smith: With regard to the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, Mr. Davis, not informing public representatives, Ministers visiting and not letting Members of the Oireachtas know is not unknown in our jurisdiction either.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council: Defence and Related Matters (26 Apr 2018)

Brendan Smith: Thank you. With regard to Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan's point about the Mediterranean, statistics were provided in the briefing by the Department. It was a good detailed briefing and we appreciate that. In 2016 and 2017 the Irish naval vessels were involved in rescuing 17,509 migrants. Since Operation Sophia, the total number of migrants rescued in October to December 2017 was 613. There...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council: Defence and Related Matters (26 Apr 2018)

Brendan Smith: When you visit the headquarters of Operation Sophia, will you bear in mind and follow up on the questions that humanitarian organisations such as Médicins san Frontières have raised? They are out there working in the most difficult situations and we must be very cognisant of their concerns. We will leave it to the Minister to ensure that when he is there and speaking to the people...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council: Defence and Related Matters (26 Apr 2018)

Brendan Smith: I understand that since the reorganisation of the Defence Forces nationally, the regulations that govern the operations of the Reserve Defence Force have not been amended. The representative association is anxious that when the Department is preparing to amend the regulations it be involved and consulted about the changes. On the Naval Service Reserve, apparently there is a serious...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council: Defence and Related Matters (26 Apr 2018)

Brendan Smith: Is it Commissioner Mogherini who attends the Council meetings the Minister of State attends?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council: Defence and Related Matters (26 Apr 2018)

Brendan Smith: To my recollection, we asked him last year, but he is not the Accounting Officer.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council: Defence and Related Matters (26 Apr 2018)

Brendan Smith: The committee decides who it wishes to invite to appear before it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council: Defence and Related Matters (26 Apr 2018)

Brendan Smith: The committee may invite any person to appear before it without seeking the approval of a Minister or the Department. I thank the Minister of State for his presentation and dialogue with members. We hope he will raise the issues we have discussed at the forthcoming Council meeting. They are reflective of the views of Irish society, rather than solely those of public representatives. I...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Common Agricultural Policy Negotiations (26 Apr 2018)

Brendan Smith: 46. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the need to increase the CAP budget post 2020 was raised at the recent European Council meeting. [15157/18]

Written Answers — Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection: State Pension (Contributory) (26 Apr 2018)

Brendan Smith: 221. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to remove the anomalies in the method of calculation of entitlements to the State pension, contributory, with particular reference to the need to reverse the changes that were introduced in 2012; when the necessary legislative measures will be introduced; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18476/18]

Written Answers — Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government: Home Repossessions (26 Apr 2018)

Brendan Smith: 248. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the comparative analysis of the number of repossessions both in process and finalised in the past 24 months in respect of local authority loans and shared ownership schemes by county; the lending organisations which have sought repossession; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18478/18]