Results 501-520 of 798 for speaker:Cathal Berry

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (9 Mar 2022)

Cathal Berry: I am referring to subhead A13. I welcome the allocation of €45 million but everybody here knows that most of the facilities across the country were built by the British and they are crumbling. There is a lot of talk of increasing the Defence Vote in October but some people are pushing back on that because they think the money will be spent on warmongering equipment. The reality is...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (9 Mar 2022)

Cathal Berry: Subhead A23 refers to the European peace facility and €5 million being handed over. I was surprised by that. I could be completely wrong, but normally when money goes to Europe it comes from the Department of the Taoiseach. I seek clarification on that money having come from the defence budget. I agree that an additional €9.5 million for the European peace facility was...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (9 Mar 2022)

Cathal Berry: On a connected but different point, I agree with the €9.5 million being handed over for non-lethal equipment as per the programme for Government and we should honour that commitment, but has there been any consideration of or any final decision made regarding the provision of non-lethal equipment such as helmets, body armour, communications equipment and medical equipment from Defence...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (9 Mar 2022)

Cathal Berry: Is that money completely gone or, in light of the fact the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces has now been published, is there any chance of having a supplementary budget to get that €23 million back? I am concerned because 12 months were spent - I will not say that time was wasted because it was not - waiting for the report of the commission. If the budget for the 2023...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Mar 2022)

Cathal Berry: In light of the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine and the fact that President Zelenskiy is addressing a number of parliaments around Europe and, indeed, the world, the Regional Group is of the view that he should be invited to address the joint Houses of the Oireachtas by video link at his convenience. I would be grateful if the Business Committee could hold an urgent meeting...

Situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including the recent Amnesty International Report: Statements (2 Mar 2022)

Cathal Berry: I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the debate. I will not speak for long, given my views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are well known at this stage. I very much welcome the report from Amnesty International. It may not be universally accepted, but it is certainly consistent with many similar reports in recent years and it chimes with my experience in the region over...

Support for the Sovereignty and Territorial Integrity of Ukraine: Motion (1 Mar 2022)

Cathal Berry: Second, we have a no-fly zone for Russian aircraft over the country at present. As for whether we can enforce it or not, we all know the answer to that. We should explore extending that to shipping as well to ban Russian ships from our ports and from our territorial waters. The Minister, through the European Union, should also have an additional range of sanctions available for...

Support for the Sovereignty and Territorial Integrity of Ukraine: Motion (1 Mar 2022)

Cathal Berry: I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I wholeheartedly approve of and endorse the motion. As the House will be aware, I have been raising concerns about the Ukraine situation in recent months. Unfortunately, those concerns were well founded and now we are in a very dodgy place whereby Europe is once again at war, for the first time in the 21st century from the...

Security Situation in Europe: Statements (23 Feb 2022)

Cathal Berry: I thank the Minister, Deputy Coveney, for his opening statement. I welcome the Ukrainian ambassador, Larysa Gerasko, and her wonderful team to the Chamber. I hope they feel welcome because they certainly are. My views on the Ukrainian-Russian conflict and crisis are well-known at this stage from previous contributions on Leaders' Questions prior to and since Christmas and at the Oireachtas...

Citizens' Assemblies: Motion (22 Feb 2022)

Cathal Berry: I thank the Minister of State for his opening statement, which was very useful. I listened to it in great detail. I am delighted to be in the Chamber to make a contribution to this very important debate on establishing two citizens' assemblies, one on a directly elected mayor for Dublin and the other on the biodiversity crisis. As a Deputy representing rural and regional Ireland, I will...

Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Statements (16 Feb 2022)

Cathal Berry: I thank the Minister and the Minister of State for their detailed opening statements. I am very grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this debate and I very much welcome the publication of the report. I join with other Deputies in commending the 16 commissioners for their hard work over the past 13 or 14 months. They delivered the report pretty much on time, despite the Covid...

Mobility and Transport Supports for People with Disabilities: Motion [Private Members] (16 Feb 2022)

Cathal Berry: I thank the Minister of State for her detailed opening statement. I am again grateful for the opportunity to speak on the topic of disability in the Chamber. People from that group are physically under-represented in Leinster House. It is important that they are not under-represented from an advocacy point of view. That is why I am delighted to be here with my Regional Group colleagues to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Security Situation in Ukraine: Engagement with Ukrainian Ambassador (15 Feb 2022)

Cathal Berry: The ambassador and her team are most welcome. I have two brief questions. The first is in relation to the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, of 1994. It is a straightforward memorandum and is only one-and-a-half pages long. It is freely available on the Internet. The memorandum was brought in when Ukraine got its independence and when it agreed to hand over all its nuclear...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Feb 2022)

Cathal Berry: I wish the Tánaiste good afternoon. My questions will be focused on the situation in Ukraine and more specifically how it relates to the situation in Ireland. I think every Deputy will recall the dying days of the Celtic tiger, when our financial regulators were utterly clueless about the risks emerging on the horizon and provided absolutely no early warning whatsoever. Even as the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (10 Feb 2022)

Cathal Berry: I thank the Tánaiste for his reply. It is semi-reassuring to know contingency planning has at least commenced. We have a tradition in this House, and perhaps in this country and beyond, of retrospective analysis. We always look back at an event and say we should have done more of this or less of that. Perhaps this is one time we can get ahead of the event and do some proper planning....

Dignity and Equality Issues in the Defence Forces: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (8 Feb 2022)

Cathal Berry: I have already spoken.

Dignity and Equality Issues in the Defence Forces: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (8 Feb 2022)

Cathal Berry: I very much welcome the opportunity to contribute to this very important debate. I thank Deputy Clarke and her party for bringing it forward. It is very important matter to be discussing here this evening. I thank the Women of Honour group and the other groups that came forward to tell their harrowing stories over recent weeks and months. I have three points to make in the time allowed to...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (8 Feb 2022)

Cathal Berry: My question concerns the organisational capacity review of the Department of Defence. It has been ongoing for 12 months now. I would be grateful if the Taoiseach could update the House regarding where the review stands now. Is it complete? Is it going to be published? If so, is there an indicative date regarding when it will be published?

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (3 Feb 2022)

Cathal Berry: It is reported that the Commission on the Defence Forces is scheduled to submit its findings shortly. In light of recent and current events in our home waters, the report cannot be issued soon enough. Is there any indicative timing of when the report will be submitted to the Cabinet for consideration? When will it be published thereafter for public consumption?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Russia's Foreign Policy and Security in Europe: Engagement with Ambassador of Russia (2 Feb 2022)

Cathal Berry: I thank the Chairman. I wish the ambassador and his team a good evening and thank him for coming before the committee. It is very useful to have an in-person meeting because we can both listen to the ambassador's words but also read his body language, which is perhaps more revealing and more insightful. I have four questions. The first one is on Ukraine and the remaining three are on...