Results 5,401-5,420 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: That is a very good thing.
- 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 are the home of literature, do not forget - English literature, for that matter. Was it Thomas MacDonagh who was the first to write about Ireland's impact on the English language and literature? There is nothing like French in a west Cork accent, I am reliably informed by French people.
- 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: On the question about eligibility for private healthcare, it was in the Commission on the Defence Forces report. I want to try to do anything that can enhance the quality of life of serving personnel in our Defence Forces. I want people to stay in the Defence Forces and to recruit more into the Defence Forces. God forbid you had cancer or cardiac issues, you can go private but often 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 coming to that. We received correspondence recently about the Defence Forces Justice Alliance. There was a similar personnel campaign for Baldonnel and toxic chemicals. Regarding some of what has been said, it is very difficult to say it is all due to experience in the military or in Baldonnel. Cases have been taken before the courts. In one case, my understanding is 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 State Claims Agency is looking and can decide if it wants to do mediation in one case, if it believes it is necessary. I would prefer a mediated role in some of those cases if there is a strong case. I see some of the correspondence coming in to say so many people have died generally. You would have to get a broader study to see whether it is all due to Baldonnel in some cases. I would...
- 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: Not at this stage. We have not looked at that yet.
- 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 no defined cohort of people in what is being presented.
- 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 met them some time back but not for quite some time. This group has been set up just recently in the aftermath or timed in parallel with the establishment of the tribunal inquiry. I met with some prominent people on the toxic chemicals when I was in opposition and then it went into the courts where a number of cases are at the moment.
- 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 equally unhappy with the slow progress there and the nature of the trial process and I have met the Lebanese minister for foreign affairs on a number of occasions now, most recently in Barcelona at a European ministerial exchange on the Middle East more generally. I had a bilateral with him there, previous bilaterals at the UN General Assembly, UNGA, and indeed, I went to Lebanon to...
- 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 we should, and also critically with the United Nations, the Secretary-General and other key persons, which we have done in the late Seán Rooney's case and more generally on force protection in respect of DFOMs, denials of freedom of movement, that still occur in Lebanon.
- 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 have. There has been a scaling back. We discussed this at the time, not here in the committee but with the military leadership, and there is a desire generally that we would scale back - if not end - the entire provision. Given numbers and so on, we need to consider the optimum deployment of the Defence Forces and as the Deputy has correctly pointed out, the requirement now at Portlaoise...
- 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 Deputy's point is well made. There was a time when prison officers were targets and were shot. In one case that we know of, a prison officer lost his life. Therefore, there was a time when it was needed. The number of high-security prisoners is now in single digits and they are of a certain age and so forth, so the necessity that was once there is no longer required. Therefore, 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: It actually is.
- 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.
- 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: Was it?
- 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 have news on that front shortly.
- 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: If the Deputy has any cases in mind, he could send them on to us. There should not be delays on that. We should just get it done quickly.
- 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 come back on 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: On the Deputy's general comments, I appreciate the positive observations on patrol duty allowance. The starting pay, particularly for those who have less than three years of service, is quite a dramatic uplift, as the Deputy describes it. The C-295 will be coming on target to be delivered to us in 2025. The ongoing issue would be recruitment and retention. On the retirement front, we have...
- 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 have asked the Chief of Staff to progress and get on with it.