Results 10,361-10,380 of 12,701 for speaker:Willie O'Dea

Written Answers — Ministerial Travel: Ministerial Travel (7 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The Ministerial Air Transport Service is provided by the Air Corps to facilitate members of the Government in fulfilling their official engagements at home and abroad. The Service is primarily provided by the Gulfstream IV and Learjet 45 aircraft, which were specifically acquired for that purpose. The Beech Super Kingair 200 turboprop aircraft, which is now used primarily in a training role,...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Property: Defence Forces Property (7 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: My Department is engaged in an on-going building and maintenance programme designed to improve the training, operational and accommodation facilities available to both the Permanent Defence Forces and the Reserve. The programme focuses mainly on the construction of new buildings, the refurbishment of existing buildings and civil engineering work within the barracks. This includes on-going...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Ombudsman: Defence Forces Ombudsman (7 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The Office of the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces was established under the Ombudsman (Defence Forces) Act 2004. On the 19th September 2005, Ms. Paulyn Marrinan-Quinn SC was appointed by the President, upon the recommendation of the Government, as the first Ombudsman for the Defence Forces. The function of the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces is to act as the ultimate point of appeal for,...

Written Answers — Northern Ireland Issues: Northern Ireland Issues (7 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: Last October, the two Governments published the St Andrews Agreement. This Agreement is built on the twin pillars of power sharing and support for policing. It contains an explicit timetable leading to the restoration of the power sharing Executive on 26 March. Since St Andrews, we have seen welcome progress on policing. The landmark decision by Sinn Féin opens up the prospect for the...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Communications: Defence Forces Communications (7 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The question of public comment on official matters by any member of the Defence Forces is governed by Paragraph 27 of Defence Force Regulation A.7, which prohibits the airing of individual opinions on service matters, public business or politics. This prohibition is supplemented by a direction that comment, if any, touching on questions of a political nature — whether national or...

Written Answers — Search and Rescue Service: Search and Rescue Service (7 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The Irish Coast Guard has overall responsibility for the provision of maritime Search and Rescue services within the Irish Search and Rescue region. In accordance with the roles assigned to them by Government in the White Paper on Defence, the Defence Forces are committed to providing support to the civil authorities including in relation to Search and Rescue. In this regard, the Naval...

Written Answers — Partnership for Peace: Partnership for Peace (7 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: Ireland's participation in Partnership for Peace (PFP) to date is set out in our seven Individual Partnership Programmes (IPP), copies of which have been lodged in the Dáil Library. Ireland's seventh IPP, covering the period 2007-2008, was completed last year in consultation with the Department's of Foreign Affairs, Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Justice Equality and Law Reform,...

Written Answers — Overseas Missions: Overseas Missions (7 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: In accordance with the provisions of the White Paper on Defence, the Government is committed to maintaining Ireland's contribution to international peace support operations through the deployment of Defence Forces personnel on UN mandated peace support operations. Ireland has offered, through the UN Standby Arrangements System (UNSAS), to provide up to 850 military personnel, configured as a...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Property: Defence Forces Property (7 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The Government decided on 1 July 2003 that lands at Gormanstown, Co. Meath would be among the State lands released for inclusion in the Sustaining Progress Affordable Housing Initiative. How land at this location might play a role in the delivery of affordable housing units is a matter in the first instance for the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, which is the...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Recruitment: Defence Forces Recruitment (7 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: As you know, I am keen to increase the number of women applying to join our Defence Forces. To facilitate this I initiated research into recruitment and retention of women in the Defence Forces. To this end, following a tendering process, TNS MRBI, an independent market research company was awarded the contract to undertake research into the issue of recruitment and retention of women in the...

Written Answers — Garda Investigations: Garda Investigations (7 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: Following my receipt of the report of Mr. Sean Hurley into the circumstances surrounding the death of Private Kevin Barrett, I contacted the Garda Commissioner and asked him to provide me with his early views in relation to any possible assistance that the Garda Síochána might be in a position to provide. A Garda officer was assigned to the case to examine my Department's and the Defence...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Property: Defence Forces Property (7 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: I propose to take Questions Nos. 301 and 302 together. The Government, on 15 July 1998, approved a programme of evacuation and sale of six barracks considered surplus to military requirements. The barracks in question were located at Ballincollig, Fermoy, Naas, Castleblayney, Kildare, and Islandbridge, Dublin. The sale of 97 acres approximately at Murphy Barracks, Ballincollig was...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Equipment: Defence Forces Equipment (7 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The Naval Service provides the maritime element of the Defence Forces and has a general responsibility to meet contingent and actual maritime defence requirements. The Naval Service operates eight general purpose patrol ships. All eight ships are involved in coastal and offshore patrolling and surveillance for the State in that part of the seas where State jurisdiction applies such as...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Equipment: Defence Forces Equipment (7 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The acquisition of new equipment for the Defence Forces continues to be a key focus for me as Minister for Defence. Significant investment has taken place in recent years throughout all facets of the Defence Forces and I will continue the good work in that regard. From the Army's perspective the major investment has been in the contracts for Mowag Armoured Personnel Carriers with the...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Equipment: Defence Forces Equipment (7 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The acquisition of new equipment for the Defence Forces continues to be a key focus for me as Minister for Defence and significant investment has taken place in recent years in this regard. The unprecedented level of expenditure on equipment for the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service was made possible by the Government's decision that pay savings arising from the reorganization of the Defence...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Equipment: Defence Forces Equipment (7 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: In the latter part of 2006, 8000 units of body armour for the individual soldier on operational duties were delivered. The new body armour provides significantly greater protection, comfort and coverage than the old model as well as a doubling of the range of sizes available. The total value of the contract was in the region of €8m. The body armour is currently in stores in the Curragh Camp...

Fiscal Policy. (7 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: I have no plans to visit Irish troops serving overseas on St. Patrick's Day. However, the general officers commanding the home brigades for our missions in Liberia, Lebanon and Kosovo, the main missions in which we have troops deployed, will visit the troops in these missions on St. Patrick's Day, as is the norm and tradition. As Deputies will be aware, I recently returned from visiting...

Fiscal Policy. (7 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: The practice I have adopted is that the general officers visit the troops serving in the various missions during St. Patrick's week. So as not to coincide, I try to visit one of the missions as near as possible to that week. Last year we travelled to Liberia and this year to Lebanon. The troops seem to appreciate us doing it this way. As far as the St. Patrick's Day celebrations are...

Fiscal Policy. (7 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: I will visit troops at Sarsfield Barracks in Limerick and may be able to arrange visits beyond this, if time allows.

Overseas Missions. (7 Mar 2007)

Willie O'Dea: I visited Lebanon during the period 27 February to 1 March. During the visit I met the Lebanese Minister for Defence, Elias Murr. Among the issues we discussed was the killing of Privates Thomas Barrett and Derek Smallhorne while serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, in 1980 and the efforts to bring the alleged perpetrator of this crime to justice. The measures...