Results 9,681-9,700 of 12,631 for speaker:Willie O'Dea

Overseas Missions. (19 Feb 2008)

Willie O'Dea: They tell me they are satisfied that all arrangements that can be made to make the mission as safe as possible have been made.

Overseas Missions. (19 Feb 2008)

Willie O'Dea: If other Deputies ask me questions, I would like to respond to them.

Overseas Missions. (19 Feb 2008)

Willie O'Dea: I note Deputy Deasy had a statement in a newspaper this morning about that. Somebody brought the matter to the attention of Deputy Deasy and instead of bringing it to our attention, he brought it to the attention of The Irish Times. That is not a responsible way to carry on when people are worried about their relatives in Chad. It is irresponsible and headline grabbing.

Overseas Missions. (19 Feb 2008)

Willie O'Dea: I am not the commander——

Overseas Missions. (19 Feb 2008)

Willie O'Dea: Yes.

Overseas Missions. (19 Feb 2008)

Willie O'Dea: I am satisfied that everything that can be done to make the mission as safe as possible has been done.

Decentralisation Programme. (19 Feb 2008)

Willie O'Dea: As the Deputy is aware, the Minister for Finance announced in his budget speech in December 2003 that a total of eight Departments would move their headquarters from Dublin to provincial locations. As part of this programme, all my Department's Dublin-based Civil Service staff are relocating to Newbridge and the Defence Forces headquarters will relocate to the Curragh. In coming to its...

Decentralisation Programme. (19 Feb 2008)

Willie O'Dea: As the Deputy will be aware, Newbridge and the Curragh are quite close to each other. We live in the age of instant communications. The Chief of Staff and more than 40 personnel, including two deputy chiefs of staff, will be co-located with the Department in Newbridge. We have had extensive discussions with the military and the Civil Service about this matter and they are quite happy with...

Decentralisation Programme. (19 Feb 2008)

Willie O'Dea: If the Deputy says that, I must take his word for it, but I have always shown myself to be open to representatives. If anybody in the military or the Department has anything to say to me, he or she can come and say it to me, and I have not heard one word of complaint about this.

Child Care Facilities. (19 Feb 2008)

Willie O'Dea: A request to provide crèche facilities for members of the Defence Forces has been made by the Defence Forces representative associations. The Defence Forces partnership steering group, which was established following from Partnership 2000, has tasked a partnership sub-committee with examining the issue of the provision of child care facilities under a number of headings, including demand...

Child Care Facilities. (19 Feb 2008)

Willie O'Dea: I will make inquiries about that. I understand the committee will report on it shortly. For a positive decision to be taken, we would have to be satisfied that the demand for such a facility would justify the capital expenditure because it would involve not only premises but equipment etc. We would also want to be satisfied that its operation would be self-financing as the other six State...

Child Care Facilities. (19 Feb 2008)

Willie O'Dea: My information is that only six crèches are being provided across the public service, each with about 30 places, which is relatively small in the general scheme of things, and they are all expected to be self-financing.

Overseas Missions. (19 Feb 2008)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 112, 113, 118, 126, 129, 130, 131, 136, 144, 154, 157, 164, 166 and 613 to 615, inclusive, together. The European Union military mission to Chad and the Central African Republic, EUFOR TCHAD/RCA, established under the authority of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1778 (2007), was formally launched by the General Affairs and External Relations...

Overseas Missions. (19 Feb 2008)

Willie O'Dea: The level one medical facilities include first aid, immediate life saving measures and triage. Three role two facilities will be available, in N'Djamena, Abeche and Birao in the Central African Republic. That will cover such matters as advanced life support, basic surgery, intensive care with limited patient holding capacity and primary health care. In addition, ancillary laboratory and...

Overseas Missions. (19 Feb 2008)

Willie O'Dea: This can change, but I am advised that the main threat at the moment are these groups of roving bandits, rather than rebels, who use four-by-four pick-up trucks and operate opportunistically. They are mainly active along the Chad-Sudanese border and tend to come together and dissipate fairly quickly. This is the main threat at the moment. As to whether I am satisfied that everything that...

Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (13 Feb 2008)

Willie O'Dea: The information requested by the Deputy in relation to progress on the decentralisation of civil servants in my Department to Newbridge as at 31 December 2007 is set out hereunder: Number of Posts 200 Number of Personnel moved to new location Nil Number assigned but have not moved 141 New recruits Nil Personnel assigned to other posts within Dublin 46 In addition to the civil servants,...

Written Answers — Departmental Bodies: Departmental Bodies (13 Feb 2008)

Willie O'Dea: The Defence Forces Canteen Board was established in 1944 in order to provide canteens for members of the Defence Forces. Messes for private soldiers were established informally in 1990 as a result of the report of the Gleeson Commission, and then formally established in 1997. In 1991, as part of an overall review of mess administration it was recommended that the most efficient method of...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (13 Feb 2008)

Willie O'Dea: Both my Department and the Defence Forces are allocated limited capital sums for ICT expenditure, mostly in support of existing applications and infrastructure. As these are significantly below the thresholds for major projects, the need for specialist recruitment has not yet arisen. I am, however, open to all support options as necessary.

Written Answers — Compulsory Purchase Orders: Compulsory Purchase Orders (13 Feb 2008)

Willie O'Dea: My Department does not avail of compulsory purchase orders to secure lands. As a result there has been no change in the manner of the use of compulsory purchase orders since 2005.

Written Answers — Defence Forces Property: Defence Forces Property (12 Feb 2008)

Willie O'Dea: There has been a decrease in flight activity at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel over the past five years. In 2003, there were 23,836 aircraft movements, while in 2007 there were 23,259 aircraft movements. The military authorities are committed to ensuring that the impact of their activities on the local population in the environs of Casement Aerodrome is kept to the minimum possible, and to...