Results 9,721-9,740 of 51,889 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2023)

Micheál Martin: It is not just the Women of Honour.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2023)

Micheál Martin: On the pay front, very significant progress has been made, in particular on starting pay. As I said, the extension of private secondary health care and other allowances have been worked on. We will continue to try to improve the overall situation in terms of the remuneration package that Defence Forces personnel receive. The minimum for trained personnel comprises basic pay and military...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2023)

Micheál Martin: There are a number of measures, such as pay and so on. A new integrated multidisciplinary state-of-the-art training centre is being developed in Gormanston where all recruits, be they Air Corps, Navy or Army, will be together. We have more to do in that regard. I am confident that with the continued investment we are committed to, we can significantly improve the situation. There is...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. As he will be aware, the Government agreed to establish the external oversight body of the Defence Forces on a non-statutory basis initially, in line with one of the 13 recommendations of the independent review group on dignity and equality issues in the Defence Forces published on 28 March. The Government moved quickly to establish the body, making...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2023)

Micheál Martin: The appointment of the external oversight group was a recommendation of the IRG. We implemented it exactly in line with the recommendation of the group. The report was welcomed in the House for its shocking, but very clear, presentation of the issues facing the Defence Forces and the experiences of the many people it met. The Government has to have the capacity to move and implement...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2023)

Micheál Martin: As I said in my original reply, and again I think it is important to have a calmer perspective here, maritime vessels and ships are allowed passage through our waters and EEZ. I am not sure if there is a specific definition in military terms for the word "loiter".

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2023)

Micheál Martin: Well, we loitered in schools. We were loitering on the football pitch and many places.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2023)

Micheál Martin: There has been a great deal of noise and publicity about this issue. The mere sighting of certain ships in the context of the war in Ukraine has created the impression this is all something new. It is not. Ships are being monitored all the time by our Navy and Air Corps and by others. In the vast majority of cases, as I said earlier, these transit passages appear to be routine....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2023)

Micheál Martin: As I said in an earlier reply, there are many responsibilities in respect of protecting critical infrastructure. There are responsibilities on the owners and operators and on the Defence Forces in terms of surveillance, etc., but the Naval Service has no unilateral powers of enforcement regarding damage, criminal or otherwise, to undersea cables or other communication links in Ireland's EEZ....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Deputy for the question. Since taking up my role as Tánaiste and Minister for Defence last December, I have met with representatives of PDFORRA on three separate occasions to date. These were on 13 February to discuss a range of pay and conditions matters, on 27 March to update the association on the recent report of the Independent Review Group on Dignity and Equality...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Military Neutrality (16 May 2023)

Micheál Martin: The international security environment has changed significantly over the last year. In order to build a deeper understanding of the threats faced by the State and the links to and between our foreign, security and defence policy, I have convened a consultative forum on international security policy to discuss the issues involved. The consultative forum will take place in three different...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Military Neutrality (16 May 2023)

Micheál Martin: The Deputy has a very negative approach to the idea of even establishing a consultative forum. I find it disturbing in its own way that he would be so resolutely against an open and transparent debate in public forums regarding Ireland's foreign and security policy, as evidenced by his cynical comment about no "preconceived outcomes". I always suspected that the next approach would be to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Military Neutrality (16 May 2023)

Micheál Martin: I have been invited to a dinner tomorrow evening at said gathering. There is nothing wrong with military chiefs from European countries or indeed other countries coming to such a meeting. They do this annually. It just so happens it is happening in Ireland this year - unless I am mistaken, for the first time in 20-odd years. It rotates among states and people get together to discuss the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2023)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 5 and 18 together. As Minister for Defence, I chair the Government task force on emergency planning, which supported by the office of emergency planning, OEP, in my Department. A subgroup of the task force on emergency planning was assigned responsibility to develop guidance on critical infrastructure resilience in 2017. The subgroup produced the first...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2023)

Micheál Martin: I hope to meet with the Women of Honour group again and I will do so. At the last meeting, we circulated draft terms of reference for a statutory inquiry. It was quite an amicable meeting and I was a bit surprised by the subsequent press statement. The press comments have tended to be very adversarial with regard to the actions that the Defence Forces and I are taking. We are doing this...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2023)

Micheál Martin: The military authorities advise that, as of 31 March 2023, the strength of the Permanent Defence Force stood at 7,807. The current establishment of the Defence Forces is 9,500. Sanction has recently been received for 100 extra positions to facilitate the implementation of the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. This is in addition to the pending appointments of a civilian head...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2023)

Micheál Martin: There has been very significant investment in accommodation within the Defence Forces. I refer to single accommodation. This mainly relates to programmes of induction and training on recruitment. For example, one of the more significant investments was made in the naval centre at Haulbowline. Some very historic buildings there have been refurbished in a very well-designed and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2023)

Micheál Martin: I am confident we can address the issues but we have some journey to go before we will see a net increase with more staff being recruited than retiring. That is particularly the case with the Naval Service. I am very concerned about the Naval Service. I have had discussions with the flag officer and the Chief of Staff in that regard. The numbers within the Naval Service are a serious...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2023)

Micheál Martin: I certainly have.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (16 May 2023)

Micheál Martin: I appreciate the Ceann Comhairle's intervention and the Deputy's query. Regarding the Deputy's reference to the then Minister, Deputy Coveney's statement, I do not see anything in it that requires a correction of the Dáil record. The two important points we have consistently made in terms of national security is that everything we do as a country is in line with our military...