Results 6,801-6,820 of 50,134 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Departmental Matters: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence (17 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: The C295s and strategic airlift capacity, when it arrives, will be big changes to the Air Corps, compared to previous times. In fairness, I think Deputy Berry said this earlier. This is not to say that there are not still issues to be addressed. The biggest issue is recruitment and retention. We will bring in legislation to go up to the 35-year-old age group. Primary legislation is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Departmental Matters: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence (17 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: It is not.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Departmental Matters: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence (17 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: I observed it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Departmental Matters: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence (17 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: Yes, okay.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Departmental Matters: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence (17 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: It is our helicopter, by the way. It is a military helicopter. The point I am making is that it was a very successful operation. The Senator has queried and raised the bar a bit in terms of loss of life and all that. A very careful assessment was made of the situation by people in authority in the military.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Departmental Matters: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence (17 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: Let us trust them then.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Departmental Matters: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence (17 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: They would not-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Departmental Matters: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence (17 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: It is the growth threat. The Ukrainian war has revealed an enormous growth in cyberattacks.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Departmental Matters: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence (17 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: Collaboration is the key and that goes back to the consultative forum. On those two areas of maritime, we saw with Estonia and Finland that the gas pipeline was sabotaged just last week, as was the cable. It means the private sector, governments and militaries need to co-operate and collaborate and we need to get their information as to their cables. It will need a lot of multidisciplinary...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Departmental Matters: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence (17 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: Deputy Stanton had specific questions. I gave him the examples of the two inshore patrol vessels. The duty allowance is not specifically a budgetary issue in the sense we can deal with it as we are, and there have been negotiations. I was anxious to retain the tax credit in this year's budget. Regarding the patrol duty allowance, I spoke to people where the tax credit was meant to be the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Departmental Matters: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence (17 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: The money is not big. I would say at the moment we are looking at €2 million. This is not huge money. I am not convinced but I think we need to do it and in a way that is meaningful.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Departmental Matters: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence (17 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: I would hope very quickly. There is a pay agreement coming. We could do it very quickly in the weeks before that or we could do it in full sight of it, which is where I am. The pay agreement is important too for Defences Forces personnel. I do not want to do something that does not really move the dial at all. The issue to me is that we need people on ships and to incentivise that a bit...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Departmental Matters: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence (17 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: Knock-ons are a kind of ritual thing we get but I think it can be done. I am determined to do it but I was not going to be rushed into it prior to the budget because I was not going to sign up for something where people would lose the tax credit and it would be asked what that was all about. No one is going to be disadvantaged. We do not want people disadvantaged from this, but I also...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Departmental Matters: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence (17 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: Everything in that area is part of the national picture. The big issue always is the knock-on to other sectors. That is a big concern. I am looking at it and seeing what we can do now in terms of the pay agreement and if there are certain areas we can focus on.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Departmental Matters: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence (17 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: CPL is the agency and we have asked it to examine whether the current recruitment practices and policies are fit for practice and are optimal. We had already brought in a group on specialised recruitment to try to get specialised personnel from a technical point of view for the ships. That was initiated at the beginning of the year. The outcome is not great on that in terms of scouring...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Departmental Matters: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence (17 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: A number of people with great expertise have come back into the military at a high level.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Departmental Matters: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence (17 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: That has been interesting and quite gratifying, and the quality of those with particular expertise who have come back in has been very high. On psychometric tests, the end of the year is the expiry of the six months. We will look at that with a view to extending it. We will see if we can get an outcome as to whether it has made an appreciable difference.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Departmental Matters: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence (17 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: The case of Billy Kedian is being examined by the Chief of Staff right now. The Senator may be aware of that. The broader issue of Jadotville has been examined on a number of occasions in different forums. I am hearing what the Deputy is saying and I will have further discussions with the Chief of Staff and others on that. It has always been the military authorities who have gone through...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council and Departmental Matters: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and for Defence (17 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: Thank you, Chair. You were as courteous as ever. I appreciate the opportunity to appear here today. It was a good exchange of views. I will keep in touch with you and the other members of the committee.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Shannon Airport Facilities (17 Oct 2023)

Micheál Martin: I have unreservedly condemned the attack by Hamas on Israel. I am also deeply concerned at the unfolding situation in Gaza. I have made it clear that, under international law, Israel has a right to defend itself from attack, but this must be done within the parameters of international humanitarian law. In relation to the use of Shannon airport and the Deputy will be aware, Ireland's...