Results 621-640 of 798 for speaker:Cathal Berry

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (29 Jun 2021)

Cathal Berry: The Minister will agree that the nursing component of the Defence Forces is very important, given its scope of practice and the particular skill set and mindset that nurses bring to proceedings, particularly from an overseas point of view. It would be unusual among the EU 27 for a military not to have an army nursing service. Thankfully, we have not had a casualty overseas in 16 or 17...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (29 Jun 2021)

Cathal Berry: 8. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if paragraph 12 of Concilliation Council Report No. 451 in respect of medical officer promotions will be implemented as agreed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34708/21]

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (29 Jun 2021)

Cathal Berry: I wish to focus my question on paragraph 12 of CCR 451. This is a formal agreement between the Department of Defence and the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers, RACO, from 2013, which provides for the advancement of medical officers from captain to commandant after three years' service. I understand there has recently been some resistance to implementing this provision and...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (29 Jun 2021)

Cathal Berry: I thank the Minister for outlining his position. It is a useful starting point at least. This administrative matter is actually below the Minister's pay grade. I would like to think it could have been solved at a lower level. I only bring it to his attention because it is a matter of the utmost importance. For instance, a quarter of Defence Forces medical officers are actually on the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (29 Jun 2021)

Cathal Berry: I thank the Minister for the commitment that he might at least review this or perhaps look at it and see if there is any latitude or flexibility that can be applied. My understanding - and it is just that - is that the CCR was open-ended and not specific to 2013 but again I will take the Minister's views on board from that perspective. That is all I have to say. I wished to highlight that...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (29 Jun 2021)

Cathal Berry: 26. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence when the approved technical pay grade 2-6 proposal will be paid to enlisted members of the Defence Forces; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34703/21]

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (29 Jun 2021)

Cathal Berry: 33. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the number of enlisted Defence Forces personnel who will be forced to retire early unless changes are made to the post-1994 service contracts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34704/21]

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (29 Jun 2021)

Cathal Berry: 55. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the level of uptake on the recent recruitment campaign for direct entry technicians in the Air Corps; if he is satisfied with these figures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34706/21]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Recruitment and Retention in the Defence Forces: RACO (29 Jun 2021)

Cathal Berry: I thank Commandant King and his team for his very candid testimony today. It is very tough to listen to. It is very sad that an organisation that gives so much to the State is getting so little in return. I have two very brief questions because I am conscious that Deputy Clarke wants to come in. I am sure Commandant King and his team can detect that this committee is on their side. We...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Recruitment and Retention in the Defence Forces: RACO (29 Jun 2021)

Cathal Berry: This question is for Lieutenant Colonel Priestley. I thank him for outlining all the great work the Defence Forces have been doing as a result of the Covid emergency. I am mindful that it sounds like many very expensive operations have been taking place, even paying additional staff for additional hours and the additional equipment. The Department of Justice received many additional...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: International Relations (24 Jun 2021)

Cathal Berry: 94. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the position regarding the situation in Belarus and the status of persons (details supplied). [33991/21]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: International Relations (24 Jun 2021)

Cathal Berry: I will focus my questions on the worrying case in Belarus, particularly the welfare of the Ryanair passengers forcefully removed from a flight in Minsk at the end of May. I would be grateful if the Minister could update the House on the most recent developments at European and international level.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: International Relations (24 Jun 2021)

Cathal Berry: It is reassuring that the welfare of the two Ryanair passengers are uppermost in our minds at both the national and EU level. I very much welcome the targeted sanctions, asset freezing and travel bans for the 86 people and entities associated with the Lukashenko regime. It is a very positive development. I also welcome that the Belarusian national airline is banned from EU airspace and it...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: International Relations (24 Jun 2021)

Cathal Berry: I thank the Minister again for outlining the European and international dimension. Is there anything we can do at a national level to demonstrate our solidarity with and support for the people of Belarus and the political opposition in exile? I would be grateful for the Minister's thoughts on whether we should invite the opposition leader here to address the Houses of the Oireachtas,...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: EU Membership (24 Jun 2021)

Cathal Berry: 104. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the status of the current political situation within Hungary; and the way in which this will affect its relationship with the EU. [33939/21]

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Jun 2021)

Cathal Berry: I raise the important issue of the volunteers who have been working so hard in mass vaccination centres and Covid testing facilities all over the country. These are very fine people who, last March, signed up for what they thought was going to be a couple of months, but a couple of months has turned into a couple of years. Has thought been given to how the State will recognise the...

Fisheries and Coastal Communities: Statements (17 Jun 2021)

Cathal Berry: As a Donegal man himself, I am sure the Minister fully appreciates the importance of the sea to this island nation, but most importantly to coastal and fishing communities around the country. I am pretty sure he also appreciates how dangerous it can be on the high seas, especially in the north Atlantic, and how many tragedies, unfortunately, have befallen the fishing communities in recent...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 Jun 2021)

Cathal Berry: I welcome the commitment to sport in the programme for Government. Accordingly, I would like to raise with the Tánaiste the matter of the disused and closed ice rink in Dundalk Institute of Technology, DkIT. This is a facility that was purchased in 2014, using public funds but, incredibly, has lain idle since then. It is the only ice rink in this jurisdiction and because it is not...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (15 Jun 2021)

Cathal Berry: 693. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence further to Parliamentary Question No. 322 of 25 May 2021, if figures will be provided for the remaining troop rotations to UNTSO, MINURSO, MONUSCO, EUTM, KFOR, EU-BiH and UNNY. [31057/21]

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (2 Jun 2021)

Cathal Berry: I would like to focus my question this afternoon on the national recovery and resilience plan published yesterday afternoon. This plan is being exclusively funded from Brussels. For the first time ever the European Union is centrally borrowing to the tune of €750 billion - a massive amount of money - and distributing that money among member states. I wish this facility had been...