Results 10,181-10,200 of 12,596 for speaker:Willie O'Dea

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (4 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: Amendment No. 2 removes the requirement that the delegation of functions by the chief military judge to another military judge would be subject to the consent of the Judge Advocate General. This amendment was made as a consequence to the amendment made on Committee Stage in this House which gave the President rather than the Judge Advocate General the role of appointing a military judge to...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (4 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: Amendments Nos. 3 to 6, inclusive, are a response to an observation raised by the Irish Human Rights Commission with regard to a senior member on a court martial board and the possibility that such an appointment could give rise to influence among members of the board. The proposed senior member was designed to replace the former appointment of president of the court martial. However, I am...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (4 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: As I stated when speaking about the previous group of amendments, further to the observations of the Irish Human Rights Commission on section 40, I am satisfied we can dispense entirely with all references in the Bill to "senior member" of a court martial. Amendments Nos. 7 to 9, inclusive, give effect to this in respect of section 40 which deals with the constitution of limited courts...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (4 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: Amendment No. 12 is a typographical correction. It merely corrects an incorrect reference in Schedule 2 from section 169(3)(d) to the correct reference to section 169(3)(g).

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (4 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: I thank Senators for the constructive debate we had on the Bill and for the helpful amendments tabled in this House. As I stated previously, it is intended that the Bill will reflect and further enhance the non-statutory interim measures implemented to date for the summary investigation of offences and the conduct of courts martial under the Defence Acts. This Bill is a major advancement...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (3 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: Aside from staff who are availing of statutory/civil service leave entitlements (maternity leave, sick leave, annual leave, etc.) my Department has no staff who are in receipt of full salary and not working.

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (3 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: I understand that the person concerned has applied through FÁS, the Training and Employment Authority, for positions of Storekeeper Clerk and General Operative in the Logistics Base, the Curragh Camp, Co. Kildare. The applications will be considered in due course along with the many other applications received for these posts.

Written Answers — Defence Forces Strength: Defence Forces Strength (3 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The strength of the Permanent Defence Force on 28 February 2007, the latest date for which detailed figures are available, as advised by the military authorities was 10,370. A detailed breakdown of the numbers in the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps by rank are in the Tables. The Tables also provide the comparable details for the Army Reserve and the Naval Service Reserve. The White Paper on...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (3 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: No member of staff in my Department has two or more phone lines provided at their home.

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (3 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The amount of money paid in travel and subsistence to trainers in my Department in 2006 was €19,363. A total of 843 training days were organised for the same period. The Training Officer attends meetings of the Training Officer Network every quarter and to date these have alternated between Dublin and Tullamore. The relocation of CMOD has not had any other significant impact on the work...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (3 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: When the Civil Service Training Centre was based in Dublin, only staff based outside of Dublin were eligible for travel and subsistence expenses in respect of attendance at courses at the Centre. In the period from 1 January 2005 up to the re-location of the Centre to Tullamore in July, 2006 only one member of my Department's staff based outside Dublin attended a pre-retirement course in...

Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (3 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: Of the 41 staff who transferred into this Department one has moved to another section in the Department within a short space of time. I am not aware of any implications for staff morale.

Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (3 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: I have thought about it but I have not changed my view. First, I do not believe it would be appropriate for the Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill to unilaterally amend the Children Act. Second, and more importantly, I believe there are good reasons section 271 of the Children Act should not be repealed. The effect of section 271 of the Children Act is that any person under 18 years of age...

Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (3 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The proposed amendment seeks to change the text of the Bill to reflect that communications made with the director of military prosecutions or a member of staff on behalf of a complainant in proceedings, or on behalf of a person charged with or who believes he is likely to be charged with an offence, or on behalf of a person involved in the matter personally, do not come within the scope of...

Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (3 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: Under the proposed provisions of the Bill the director of military prosecutions alone will prefer the charges under military law. A charge would be laid as the director of military prosecutions versus the accused. I am advised by the Parliamentary Counsel that it is not necessary, therefore, to make the amendment as proposed and I will explain the reason. In ordinary offences on indictment...

Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (3 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: It does not weaken it in any way, it is simply the way the indictment in this case is formulated. Article 30.3 of the Constitution provides that if an ordinary criminal offence is being prosecuted on indictment it is to be done in the name of the people and at the suit of the Attorney General — that was changed to the DPP in 1974. We have the option — this has been vetted by the...

Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (3 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The way all prosecutions are formulated under military law is simply that it is the prosecutor versus the accused. The only reason we do it in the rather unwieldy way for ordinary criminal charges on indictment is the Constitution states we are to do it that way, for whatever reason. There is no legal reason it should be done that way.

Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (3 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: Yes, that is still the position. I intend to do it when the opportunity arises.

Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (3 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The Bill provides that any members of the Defence Forces who are barristers or solicitors may not be members of a court martial board. The amendment seeks to remove this provision. A person in the Defence Forces who is legally qualified is a potential member of the legal service. This fact should cast doubt on his or her independence. In the recently passed UK Armed Forces Act 2006 such...

Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2006 [Seanad]: Report and Final Stages (3 Apr 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The current provisions in the Bill are modelled on section 5 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993. Although I would have no objection to the general intention of the amendment, I do not consider it appropriate to depart from the current position in ordinary criminal law. There would appear to be a practice of making it possible for a relative of the deceased to make a statement, rather than it...