Results 5,321-5,340 of 50,064 for speaker:Micheál Martin

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)

Micheál Martin: It is not the same allowance as the overseas allowance. It is a tweaking of existing allowances, but it is a help and a new development. I indicated this when people were returning from UNDOF. We accept that the overseas allowance is a valuable one for many members. On top of gaining experience working overseas, the allowance can be a significant additional assistance to members. When we...

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)

Micheál Martin: Approximately 182 personnel,-----

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)

Micheál Martin: ------comprising a mechanised infantry company of 138, a national support element of 34 persons and staff postings of ten personnel to the force headquarters. The stand-up phase of the battle group in 2025 will take place between 1 January and 31 December 2024, followed by a standby phase from 1 January to 31 December 2025.

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)

Micheál Martin: I do not have the exact numbers with me, but I have made it clear to the Chief of Staff that this must be fully subscribed to. This is a commitment made by the Government, which the Chief of Staff has clearly stated will be met. We brought-----

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)

Micheál Martin: We will see. An additional allowance has now been provided 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)

Micheál Martin: -----but I do not have the figures with me.

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)

Micheál Martin: I will get those figures for the Deputy and revert to him.

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)

Micheál Martin: This is training in Ireland for a year and then being on standby.

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)

Micheál Martin: There has been mandatory deployment in the past. My understanding is that it primarily occurred in specialist areas. Overwhelmingly, though, deployment is voluntary. We believe that the recall of UNDOF and the consolidation give us a much stronger capacity in terms of the voluntary dimension. In other words, deployments to missions, in particular UNIFIL, will all be voluntary.

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)

Micheál Martin: Other countries have different models. Some have mandatory conscription. “Conscription” might be the wrong term, but young people have to join in Finland and so on.

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)

Micheál Martin: Nor was I suggesting the Deputy was advocating that, but when we make comparisons, we have to be aware that other countries may have different systems. In any event, I take his point. I am very keen that we would significantly increase the strength of the RDF. It is currently at 1,407. The Army Reserve was at 1,323 at the end of last year, while the Naval Service Reserve was at 84. The...

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)

Micheál Martin: I am referring to the amendment Act of 2021. Only one member of the RDF served overseas as part of a PDF operation in 2023. I would like to see more of that.

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)

Micheál Martin: Yes, I would hope so.

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)

Micheál Martin: There is. What happened was the original NDP allocation was much lower and spending has driven on. We have made this point. In fact, we are still in negotiations even to go above this figure because an element has been added to the NDP on which Departments are in discussion with the Minister for public expenditure. We should bear in mind that €142 million was the original figure in...

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)

Micheál Martin: Hold on. First, I said we are not yet finished, and part of the issue in the coming years will be the pace at which the procurement of the heavy projects, such as primary radar and so on, come through. We think the strategic airlift capacity, C295, will come in next year. One of the concerns coming out of the commission related to the need to significantly ramp up procurement capacity...

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)

Micheál Martin: I am confident that if additional expenditure comes in by dint of, say, a project having been completed earlier, we will manage it and there will not be an issue for us.

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)

Micheál Martin: That is because the Minister has not allocated the additional NDP capital, as he made clear in the summer economic statement. He is putting an additional €250 million into capital but he did not allocate that at the time of the budget. Discussions are now going on between Departments in respect of that. We made clear at the time of the €176 million announcement that that...

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)

Micheál Martin: The point is the NDP is there. We were happy with the €176 million and that is the baseline. We have told the Defence Forces to keep going with the infrastructural projects on the campuses. We want projects to go through the system and be designed. Relatively speaking, the capital allocation for defence, compared with that for other high-spending Departments, is not huge. In the...

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)

Micheál Martin: No.

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)

Micheál Martin: They could be or it could be loose talk, but there is no way they could identify a company because we are nowhere near procurement. This is very complex and it is not something the Defence Forces have gone at previously. In fact, we may work with other countries that have done this previously and could tell us the mistakes they made or advise us not to go down a given route. We are going...