Results 9,621-9,640 of 12,596 for speaker:Willie O'Dea
- Overseas Missions. (19 Feb 2008)
Willie O'Dea: All right.
- Overseas Missions. (19 Feb 2008)
Willie O'Dea: The Deputy should not be lying to the House.
- Overseas Missions. (19 Feb 2008)
Willie O'Dea: I saidââ
- Overseas Missions. (19 Feb 2008)
Willie O'Dea: I said he was lying to the House, it is true, and I withdraw the comment.
- Overseas Missions. (19 Feb 2008)
Willie O'Dea: It is true I said he was lying to the House and I withdraw it, yes. Reluctantly.
- Overseas Missions. (19 Feb 2008)
Willie O'Dea: My reply may have been somewhat confusing. When we were given our original estimate we would have been able to provide â¬20 million from our own resources to Chad. We needed an extra â¬37 million because the total cost of the mission is â¬57 million. I am sorry if that was not presented as clearly as it should have been.
- Overseas Missions. (19 Feb 2008)
Willie O'Dea: It is coming from the Defence Forces. There is an increase of 7% in the Defence Forces budget this year over last year.
- Overseas Missions. (19 Feb 2008)
Willie O'Dea: Absolutely not. There is an increase of 7%. We have made the usual provision for expanding accommodation, training, equipment etc. as we have done for several years. Regarding the Deputy's other point, which he has made before, it appears to make a case for getting our own long-range transportation facility. The Department has considered the matter a number of times and the advice to date...
- Overseas Missions. (19 Feb 2008)
Willie O'Dea: We could, but that would be a joint operation between the Departments of Defence and Foreign Affairs. We are considering the matter in the context of the next ten-year plan for defence, which we will start to consider shortly. At the moment, we have arrangements, as the Deputy knows, with commercial providers in the private sector. Recently another potential provider approached me with a...
- Overseas Missions. (19 Feb 2008)
Willie O'Dea: Yes, all that has been taken very much into account. As the Deputy will be aware, we constantly assess the risk. It is not just a question of assessing the risk today and leaving the matter for another three months. The risk is constantly assessed. There is a constant risk assessment operation in place. The Deputy asked whether recent events regarding the alleged regrouping of the rebels...
- Overseas Missions. (19 Feb 2008)
Willie O'Dea: Yes. That has all been taken into account.
- Order of Business (19 Feb 2008)
Willie O'Dea: Deputy Kenny never gets it right.
- Departmental Staff. (19 Feb 2008)
Willie O'Dea: Is there no end to Deputy Kenny's talents?
- Departmental Staff. (19 Feb 2008)
Willie O'Dea: It did not do Dick Spring much good when he had a clatter of them.
- Overseas Missions. (19 Feb 2008)
Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 107 and 108 together. The European Union military mission to Chad and the Central African Republic is being mounted in response to a direct request from the United Nations Security Council. This is the most widely supported military operation conducted in Africa by the EU. France will be making a sizeable contribution to the EU force of 3,700. However,...
- Overseas Missions. (19 Feb 2008)
Willie O'Dea: I take all threats seriously. As I noted in my initial reply, there always will be a certain element of danger. This is a Chapter VII operation and is similar to any operation in a troubled African country such as, for example, Liberia, where great fears were expressed in advance of the mission but which ultimately worked out very well. This statement was made by a representative of one...
- Overseas Missions. (19 Feb 2008)
Willie O'Dea: That is precisely the point. There will be no circumstances in which there will be no element of danger. We are entering a very troubled African country in a more or less constant state of rebellion. The rebellion is supported by Chad's powerful neighbour, Sudan, whose regime is in turn supported by the Government of China. There are constant efforts to disrupt the political system in...
- Overseas Missions. (19 Feb 2008)
Willie O'Dea: There are other rebel groups but I do not believe they would be as capable of mounting similar operations. They are more like bandit groups. They operate opportunistically, join together and dissipate fairly quickly. On Deputy Deenihan's question, my information is that the rebels who attacked N'Djamena will not be in a position to make a comeback until the end of the rainy season....
- Overseas Missions. (19 Feb 2008)
Willie O'Dea: The proposed deployment of a Defence Forces contingent to the UN-mandated EU operation in the Republic of Chad and the Central African Republic will be the most expensive operation on which the Defence Forces have ever been deployed. As the House will be aware, Chad is landlocked and nearly 2,000 km from the nearest port facility. There are few, if any, roads and little infrastructure over...
- Overseas Missions. (19 Feb 2008)
Willie O'Dea: No. Deployment of the initial entry force will cost â¬3.8 million, the initial deployment of the main contingent will cost â¬10 million, rotation flights will cost â¬2.4 million and re-supply flights will cost â¬3.4 million.