Results 561-580 of 45,281 for speaker:Simon Harris

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Air Corps (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I want to reflect on what Deputy Ó Laoghaire has said to me today, and what he conveyed to me by email on behalf of ACCAS last night. I say this without prejudice or conflation with any other ongoing issues, be they issues before the courts or issues that will rightly be examined by the tribunal in terms of how complaints are handled. The point Deputy Ó Laoghaire is making is that...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Air Corps (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: Yes.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Air Corps (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I will take advice on this. Generally I like to engage in politics and in public life. I will take advice on this because I am conscious of being a defendant in legal proceedings. I will check this, and if it is possible to find a mechanism or a way to do this I am certainly open to it. I am very conscious of the sensitivities around this and the realities for people's health and lives...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Gibney for this important and timely question. I have absolutely no doubt that as this issue goes through the Houses and draft legislation gets published there will quite rightly be a lot of debate and scrutiny. There should be time and space to get it right. I hope Deputy Gibney accepts my bona fides, because it is my genuine view, that I value Irish military neutrality....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I would like to see the Security Council reformed. I have said this at the Security Council, at the Munich security conference at the G20 last week. The Security Council urgently needs to be reformed but I cannot imagine Putin or others being open to this. We have to deal with the reality of a Security Council that in my view does not function the way it should and is badly in need of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for this important question. I want him, the men and women of Óglaigh na hÉireann and the people of Ireland to know that as Minister for Defence, I am deeply committed to the transformation of the Defence Forces into a modern, fit-for-purpose organisation to defend the State and meet the challenges of today and the future. Across Europe, all countries...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I have given a timeline for when we expect to reach LOA2, namely, by 2028. I will work constructively with the Deputy on this to see if there is potential to accelerate this process. That will be a matter for engagement with Government colleagues, the Taoiseach and the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. We are taking action on this and any objective examination of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: We will map that out in terms of the progress we need to make between now and 2028. The figures show that last year was the first year in a long time that we saw stabilisation and very small growth, which I do not overrate, in the number of men and women in our Defence Forces. We expect to see this trend continue. Let us look at this in the round. The budget increased each year from 2020...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Air Corps (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: There is often time for argy-bargy in the House but I want to acknowledge the constructive way the Deputy has engaged with me and my office in passing on the views and concerns of ACCAS. I will endeavour to also engage on this constructively in return. The health and well-being of the men and women working in the Air Corps and the wider Defence Forces is of the utmost priority for me, both...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: The military authorities have provided the requested information as set out in the attached tables which will be provided to you. They advise that it has only been possible to provide the establishment figures for the Defence Forces from 2013 to date and the strength figures for the Defence Forces from 2010 onwards. When a member of the Permanent Defence Force signs up for enlistment they...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: Implementation of the White Paper programme has progressed in planned phases since 2015. This phased process was kept under review across the years and was subject to change or update as issues arose and other business dictated. Decisions about which projects to progress at any stage took into account the priorities set out in the Programme for Government, available resources, and initiatives...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Naval Service (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 18 and 36 together. I would like to start by acknowledging the important role played by the members of the Reserve Defence Forces and I would like to thank them for their continued commitment. I had the opportunity to meet with their representative body recently, RDFRA, and we had a very constructive discussion of the continued development of the Reserve....

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: The Defence Forces has informed my Department that the current situation in the Area of Operations (AO) where our Defence Forces operate in Lebanon remains one of significant instability. Though there has been a notable decrease in kinetic activities since the start of the recent Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, but significant uncertainty remains regarding future actions of actors in the...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: A table containing requested strength figures, as provided by the military authorities for each year from 2020 to 2024, will be provided to the Deputy. We have previously acknowledged the recruitment and retention challenges in the PDF. To address these, a range of measures have been introduced. The maximum age of recruitment has increased to 39 years for those roles that had a recruitment...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: The Defence Forces Tribunal of Inquiry was established to examine the effectiveness of the complaints processes in the Defence Forces concerning workplace issues relating to discrimination, bullying, harassment, sexual harassment and sexual misconduct. The Tribunal also has the power to investigate the response to complaints made regarding the use of hazardous chemicals within Air...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: Ireland joined the Partnership for Peace Programme with NATO in 1999. Over the course of the last 26 years of membership Ireland has benefited from this partnership and has also contributed to it, be it through contributing to UN mandated NATO led missions, Defence Capacity Building initiatives, hosting of training courses or through Trust Funds. It is a long standing partnership built on...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: The military authorities have advised that as of 31 December 2024, the strength of the Permanent Defence Force (PDF) stood at 7,557 personnel consisting of 6,099 Army, 739 Air Corps and 719 Naval Service. The current agreed establishment strength of the PDF is 9,739. I have outlined in response to an earlier PQ the range of significant measures undertaken to address recruitment and...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Naval Service (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 24 and 43 together. The Naval Service is the State's principal sea-going agency tasked with a variety of defence and other roles. While the main daily tasking of the Naval Service is to provide a fishery protection service in accordance with our obligations as a member of the EU, it also carries out a number of other non-fishery related tasks including...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: My Department was notified in July 2024 that the properties in question were being considered for inclusion on the derelict sites register. My officials have been engaged with Dublin City Council to clarify the position with these properties. One house, number 18, is currently occupied. Of the remainder, I must add that none of these properties can be occupied without considerable...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Departmental Meetings (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: As the Deputy is aware, the Irish Defence and Security Association (IDSA) was established in 2021 with a mission “to ensure Ireland develops appropriate, leading edge and trusted defence and security capabilities in the land, sea, air, space and cyber domains, in order to protect our society, create jobs, drive research and enhance Ireland’s economic growth”. ...