Results 10,581-10,600 of 12,596 for speaker:Willie O'Dea

Overseas Missions. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: Ireland currently has 826 troops serving overseas. This figure consists of 168 officers and 658 non-officers. I understand five doctors are currently deployed overseas. While I do not have figures on the number of dentists, I understand none is serving overseas. The answer to the Deputy's question on whether we are having difficulty recruiting a sufficient number of doctors is an...

Overseas Missions. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: I have consulted my officials about making the document available and will be pleased to do so if there are no barriers to publication. A memorandum of understanding would not usually refer to the requirements of contributing members. It simply outlines details of how the various contingents will operate together, who will perform what function etc. It is not supposed to refer to the...

Overseas Missions. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: I agree that if the reserve Defence Forces, particularly doctors, engineers and other professionals, were to serve overseas, it would significantly alleviate the problem. Various difficulties are encountered in trying to get release from employment and these require deals to be done with IBEC etc. The target set down in the White Paper was to have reserve Defence Forces serving overseas by...

Overseas Missions. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The expertise is available. Of the 826 personnel abroad currently, two thirds have been abroad previously, a considerable reserve of expertise. I cannot remember the Deputy's first question.

Overseas Missions. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: They become involved with community and charitable work with local groups and people. There have been instances in Kosovo and Monrovia where that happened and we give the Army every encouragement to continue with such work. That is why the Army has such a great reputation in international peacekeeping circles.

Overseas Missions. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The breakdown between men and women reflects the general numbers of women in the Army.

Overseas Missions. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: Yes, it is in that order but I will get exact figures for the Deputy. There is no barrier to prevent a person who goes to Liberia from then going to Lebanon or Kosovo. There is an overlap. I see no reason why the memorandum of understanding should require a reference to the triple lock because the triple lock is the law and that takes precedence over any memorandum. I am sorry we did not...

Overseas Missions. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: There are facilities for all medical and dental ailments and the same applies in all overseas missions, the expertise is available. If Deputy Callely has any other incentives we could offer to recruit doctors and dentists, because we badly need to do this to provide frontline services instead of bringing GPs in from outside, I would be delighted to hear them.

Military Intelligence. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: There is no specific allocation of funds for military intelligence. The cost involved is partly met from funds provided from the Secret Service Vote, which is accounted for by the Minister for Finance, and partly from the relevant subheads of the Defence Vote, including pay from subhead B and allowances from subhead C. The total expended on military intelligence is not separately compiled...

Military Intelligence. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: In the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 attacks, the Government reviewed security arrangements, particularly in respect of military intelligence. Consequently, in the past three or four years, provision for military intelligence has been substantially increased. The numbers of Army staff engaged in such work has increased substantially in the past three or four years. The sum of...

Military Intelligence. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: I will take on board any constructive suggestions. It is impossible, as countries such as Israel and the United states will testify, to have a system that provides absolute protection against the possibility of a terrorist attack. Nevertheless, the emergency planning committee includes the Garda and the Army, as well as the Departments of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and Defence. It...

Overseas Missions. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: It is extremely difficult for any family when a member of the family goes missing far from home. I can only empathise with the terrible situation in which the family find themselves. My colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, has the lead role in respect of this issue. I understand from him that extensive efforts have been made by the consular service of the Department of Foreign...

Overseas Missions. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: I note Deputy Costello's comments about the initial investigation and I do not wish to comment one way or another on it. According to information received by me, there have been six large scale searches and a number of more localised searches. The information received by us indicates that there has been no deficiency in the follow-up searches and that the local authorities are doing...

Overseas Missions. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: We are continually in touch with the local authorities and if they want my help, they can ask for it.

Overseas Missions. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The Minister for Foreign Affairs has offered to meet the family if it so wishes.

Retirement of Army Officer. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The individual concerned was retired by the President, on the advice of the Government, with effect from a date in June 1969. The retirement was effected pursuant to section 47(2) of the Defence Act 1954 and paragraph 18(1)(f) of Defence Force Regulations A.15, which provide that an officer may be retired "in the interests of the service". The House will appreciate that a decision to retire...

Retirement of Army Officer. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: I do not accept that the High Court decision of 2005 opens the door to another inquiry or in any way indicates that an injustice has been done to Mr. de Róiste. We must remember that two decisions were made, one by the High Court and the other by the Supreme Court, which all witnesses were entitled to attend and where Mr. de Róiste was entitled to present his full case. On the substantive...

Defence Forces Strength. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The White Paper on Defence was published in February 2000. It provided for a strength of 10,500 for the Permanent Defence Force, PDF, comprised of 930 for the Air Corps, 1,144 for the Naval Service and 8,426 for the Army. At the time of publication the strength of the Permanent Defence Force stood at approximately 11,500. This was reduced to 10,500 by the end of 2001. The White Paper also...

Defence Forces Strength. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: In regard to today's Estimates, I am delighted that for the first time in the history of the State the defence budget has exceeded €1 million. It has always been a small budget compared to the budgets for the Departments of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Education and Science, Health and Children etc. On the matter of the exact terms of that 2001 commitment, my understanding is that the...

Defence Forces Strength. (16 Nov 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The civilian section of the Department of Defence is small in terms of numbers compared to the Army. In 2001 we reduced the strength from 11,500 to 10,500 but as a quid pro quo we invested a great deal of money in equipment, training, facilities etc. We now have a professionally organised and successful Army which is admired all over the world.