Results 4,801-4,820 of 17,012 for speaker:Paul Kehoe

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Army Personnel (17 Dec 2019)

Paul Kehoe: The decision in 2012 was based on recommendations brought forward by the then Secretary General of the Department of Defence and the then Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces. They were aimed at ensuring the most effective operational structures in a stabilised strength ceiling of 9,500 Permanent Defence Force personnel. The reorganisation proposals at that time were developed...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Army Personnel (17 Dec 2019)

Paul Kehoe: The security of the State rests with An Garda Síochána, with which the Defence Forces have a very close relationship in this regard. I mean this in the best way that we should look forward rather than back. I take the Deputy's views on board about the lack of recruitment from areas where there were barracks in the past. It is one of the hardest decisions. The Deputy was in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces Representative Organisations (17 Dec 2019)

Paul Kehoe: 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. Members of the Permanent Defence Force also cannot become members of a trade union. To compensate for these limitations, there are a range of statutory redress mechanisms...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces Representative Organisations (17 Dec 2019)

Paul Kehoe: The conciliation and arbitration scheme for members of the Permanent Defence Force, PDF, provides an established mechanism for the two PDF representative associations to engage with the official side. The associations in question are the Representative Association for Commissioned Officers, RACO, and the representative association for enlisted personnel, which is known as PDFORRA. In line...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces Representative Organisations (17 Dec 2019)

Paul Kehoe: I want to facilitate all parties that are involved in the scheme, including the two representative associations. The Deputy should go back and correct his information. He is incorrect in his assertions. I do not want to come in and enforce a scheme on top of the representative associations. I want to be able to say that every party has played its part. This scheme will be in place long...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces Representative Organisations (17 Dec 2019)

Paul Kehoe: It would be totally improper to start discussing the outstanding issues until they have been finalised by the two representative associations and the Departments of Defence and Public Expenditure and Reform. I am absolutely content that those issues will be finalised shortly. The recommendation that a chairperson be appointed, which has been mentioned by Deputy Chambers, is just one of a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Army Personnel (17 Dec 2019)

Paul Kehoe: The White Paper on Defence, which was approved by the Government in July 2015, comprehensively dealt with all aspects of defence policy and was informed by a wide-ranging consultation process. The retention of the Army's two-brigade structure was among the commitments outlined in the White Paper. This involved the removal of a layer of middle and senior management associated with having a...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Veterans Associations Funding (17 Dec 2019)

Paul Kehoe: I offer my condolences to Jimmy's family and thank him for the service he gave to this country on peacekeeping duties for many years. I recently announced I had secured total funding of €300,000 to be awarded to ONE and IUNVA. I recently held a meeting with Ollie O'Connor from ONE and Jim Casey from IUNVA and explained how I would like to strand this funding to both organisations....

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Veterans Associations Funding (17 Dec 2019)

Paul Kehoe: I fully agree with the sentiments the Deputy expressed. I meet representatives of both IUNVA and ONE and former officers of the Defence Forces yearly, while officials at the Department are in regular contact with them. I recently secured funding to address an issue at the IUNVA building in Arbour Hill, where we installed a new roof, and for the museum’s roof, which will undergo...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Naval Service Vessels (17 Dec 2019)

Paul Kehoe: The former Naval Service vessel, LÉ Aisling, was the subject of a report by the UN panel of experts on Libya. The report found that the decommissioned vessel, which was sold by public auction on 23 March 2017 and subsequently disposed of to a Libyan military commander, Khalifa Haftar, represents a breach of a UN arms embargo by a company in the United Arab Emirates. There is no lack of...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Naval Service Vessels (17 Dec 2019)

Paul Kehoe: The approach taken for the sale of the LÉ Aislingwas the same as that taken for two other Naval Service vessels sold by public auction, in 2001 and 2013. When we sold the vessel by open auction, it fully satisfied the requirements of the Comptroller and Auditor General. The Deputy is a member of the Committee of Public Accounts and understands how sales happen. In the same way that if...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Naval Service Vessels (17 Dec 2019)

Paul Kehoe: Yes, my understanding is that the vessel was decommissioned and re-registered as a pleasure yacht. I reiterate that if the Deputy sold her car tomorrow morning, she could not guarantee that it would not be used in a bank robbery or other criminal activity in a year or two years' time. Similarly, we could not make such a guarantee in respect of the vessel. 5 o’clock We sold this...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Properties (17 Dec 2019)

Paul Kehoe: I welcome the trip by the committee to see the Curragh Camp at first hand. As I stated at a recent meeting of the committee, it would cost hundreds of millions of euro to renovate the Defence Forces training college complex fully, as the Deputy will be aware having seen some of the very old buildings there. Between 2016 and 2018 some €17 million was spent on built infrastructure in...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Properties (17 Dec 2019)

Paul Kehoe: I acknowledge that the Deputy was present at the recent meeting of the committee at which there was discussion of the money that was handed back. The Deputy has come up with a fantasy of more than €20 million being handed back each year. I am not sure whether she is listening, but I repeat that in 2014 to 2016, inclusive-----

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Properties (17 Dec 2019)

Paul Kehoe: In 2014 to 2016, inclusive, and 2018, €4.5 million, or 0.1%, of a total budget of €4.15 billion was handed back. I assure the Deputies that the money allocated to this issue has been well spent, as Deputy O'Loughlin recognised. I have been in the Curragh Camp on several occasions and have seen the facilities there. It would cost hundreds of millions of euro to upgrade it....

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Properties (17 Dec 2019)

Paul Kehoe: We are coming from a recovering economy. If there had been a booming economy for the past nine years as was the case when Fianna Fáil was in power, we may not be in this situation.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Veterans Associations Funding (17 Dec 2019)

Paul Kehoe: I recognise the valued public service given to the State by retired members of the Defence Forces. I and officials from my Department hold regular meetings with three veterans’ associations, namely, the Irish United Nations Veterans Association, IUNVA, the Organisation of National Ex-Service Personnel, ONE, and the Association of Retired Commissioned Officers, ARCO. The...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Medicinal Products (17 Dec 2019)

Paul Kehoe: As I indicated to the Deputy in response to the Private Members' motion of 28 June 2017 regarding the anti-malarial drug Lariam, the use of anti-malarial drugs is a medical matter to be decided by medical professionals. In the Defence Forces, these are matters for highly qualified medical officers having regard to the specific circumstances of the mission and the individual member of the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Medicinal Products (17 Dec 2019)

Paul Kehoe: I have reminded the Deputy on numerous occasions that one of the reasons Lariam is no longer manufactured here is that Roche pulled out of Ireland for economic reasons. Medical policy in the Defence Forces is monitored constantly and reviewed when deemed appropriate. I understand the Deputy's point regarding the Private Members' motion but it would be irresponsible of me as Minister of...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Medicinal Products (17 Dec 2019)

Paul Kehoe: As stated in my initial reply, medical policy in the Defence Forces is monitored constantly and reviewed when appropriate. I have been given the advice by military authorities, namely, the director of the medical corps, that this is the most appropriate drug when required. Prescription is dependent on the needs of the person and the mission in which he or she is participating. I hope that...