Results 11,361-11,380 of 12,596 for speaker:Willie O'Dea

Written Answers — Departmental Remuneration: Departmental Remuneration (25 Jan 2006)

Willie O'Dea: Civil Service posts at the levels of assistant secretary and deputy secretary are covered by a scheme of performance related awards. The operation of the scheme is overseen by the committee for performance awards. The funding of awards is based on 10% of the payroll for the posts covered by the scheme. Within this overall limit, payments of up to 20% can be made to individuals. Prior to the...

Written Answers — Service Medals: Service Medals (25 Jan 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The following tables list the medals issued by my Department. The medals indicated in the first table are issued for service spanning the period 1916 to 31 July 1924, the date on which the present day Defence Forces were legally established. The medals in the second table are those which are issued for service with the present day Defence Forces since their establishment in 1924. No medals...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Procurement: Defence Forces Procurement (25 Jan 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The framework for the production of annual corporate procurement plans was developed by the national public procurement policy unit in the Department of Finance during 2005. This is to apply to major infrastructural and network projects valued at €30 million or over. The White Paper on Defence which was published in 2000 set out the policy on defence for this decade with a view to ensuring...

Written Answers — Departmental Bodies: Departmental Bodies (25 Jan 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The position regarding the provision of annual reports by the bodies under the aegis of my Department is as follows. It is not the practice for the Army Pensions Board to provide me with an annual report. Coiste an Asgard provided an annual report for 2004 and the report was laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. The Civil Defence Board is a new State authority established in May 2003 by...

Written Answers — Cash in Transit: Cash in Transit (25 Jan 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The total cost in respect of the provision by the Defence Forces of assistance to the Garda Síochána in protecting movements of cash for the years 2000 to 2004, the details not yet available for 2005, including pay, allowances, transport and aerial surveillance, was as follows. Year 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Total number of escorts 2,285 2,488 2,516 2,335 2,425 Cost of...

Written Answers — Freedom of Information: Freedom of Information (25 Jan 2006)

Willie O'Dea: The public bodies under the aegis of my Department that are currently exempt from the remit of the freedom of information legislation are Coiste an Asgard and the Civil Defence Board. In October 2005 the Government decided to extend the application of FOI legislation to include Coiste an Asgard and the Civil Defence Board. The Minister for Finance will bring forward the necessary regulations...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Personnel: Defence Forces Personnel (15 Dec 2005)

Willie O'Dea: The unsatisfactory age and fitness profile of the Permanent Defence Force was commented upon by the Gleeson commission in its report in 1990. The age profile was also the subject of severe criticism by PricewaterhouseCoopers, which was engaged by the efficiency audit group, EAG, to conduct an in-depth study of the Defence Forces. One of the key areas identified for urgent action by the EAG...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Reserve: Defence Forces Reserve (15 Dec 2005)

Willie O'Dea: The military authorities advise that members of the Army reserve, formerly An Fórsa CosantaÁitiúil, and the Naval Service reserve, formerly An Slua Mhuirí, are awarded An Bonn Seirbhíse, the service medal, on completing seven years' satisfactory service in recognition of their service and contribution to the Defence Forces and to the State. A bar is added to the medal on completing 12...

Written Answers — Air Services: Air Services (15 Dec 2005)

Willie O'Dea: The Irish Aviation Authority, under the aegis of the Department of Transport, is responsible for the safety regulation of Irish airspace. An airspace change proposal was submitted by Weston Airport Limited to the Irish Aviation Authority in August 2005. The proposal was also copied to my Department and is under examination by the Air Corps. It is anticipated that following the completion of...

Written Answers — Air Services: Air Services (15 Dec 2005)

Willie O'Dea: While the Air Corps conducts noise measurements around the perimeter of Casement Aerodrome, in the ramp area and in buildings around the ramp area on a continual basis, no monitoring of noise in residential areas in the environs of the aerodrome is undertaken.

Defence Forces: Motion. (15 Dec 2005)

Willie O'Dea: I move: That Dáil Éireann approves the despatch, pursuant to section 2 of the Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1960, as applied by the Defence (Amendment) Act 1993, of a contingent of the Permanent Defence Force for service with the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), established on 19th September, 2003, under UN Security Council Resolution 1509 (2003) in carrying out its additional...

Defence Forces: Motion. (15 Dec 2005)

Willie O'Dea: I look forward to it.

Defence Forces: Motion. (15 Dec 2005)

Willie O'Dea: I thank the Members from all sides who spoke on this very important motion and join with Deputy Timmins in his Christmas wishes to the families of the approximately 746 troops serving overseas. I agree with the Deputy regarding troops who have been killed that closure should be brought to their families; I fully accept that. I also reassure him and the rest of the House that all outstanding...

Written Answers — Departmental Agencies: Departmental Agencies (14 Dec 2005)

Willie O'Dea: There are no agencies or bodies of the type referred to by the Deputy for which I have no responsibility to Dáil Eireann with regard to replying to parliamentary questions for oral or written reply.

Written Answers — Army Training Programme: Army Training Programme (14 Dec 2005)

Willie O'Dea: I have been advised by the military authorities that the cost of training these 460 individuals is not readily available and cannot be readily compiled. The expenditure in terms of time and resources required to research this information would be disproportionate to the public interest in such information.

Written Answers — Military Medical Services: Military Medical Services (13 Dec 2005)

Willie O'Dea: The military medical services and their facilities exist primarily to maintain the health of the Defence Forces and to support them in operational and overseas activities. The reorganisation of the Medical Corps, which was effected as part of the Defence Forces review implementation plan in November 1998, redirected the focus of military medical care from a predominantly hospital based...

Written Answers — Airport Safety Zones: Airport Safety Zones (13 Dec 2005)

Willie O'Dea: As I explained in my reply to Questions Nos. 139 to 142, inclusive, on 15 June 2004, the red safety areas are essentially two-dimensional surfaces on the ground originating 60 m beyond the runway thresholds, have a width of 300 m and diverge at a rate of 15% at each side to a width of 700 m and have an overall length of 1,370 m in the case of each runway. The runway approach surfaces are...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Equipment: Defence Forces Equipment (13 Dec 2005)

Willie O'Dea: I am advised that six snowmobiles obtained by the Department of Defence during 1981-82 were donated by the Canadian Government via Bombardier Aerospace. I understand that the snowmobiles were written off in 2000 due to the fact that they were obsolete and uneconomic to repair. The Defence Forces have no plans to replace the snowmobiles.

Written Answers — Ministerial Staff: Ministerial Staff (13 Dec 2005)

Willie O'Dea: There are two permanent civil servants employed in the office of the Minister of State for Defence comprising of one higher executive officer and a clerical officer. At current rates and since 1 January 2005, the salaries of these staff amounted to €86,946 per annum. Costs in relation to overtime and expenses, travel and subsistence have amounted to €1,525.

Written Answers — Defence Forces Recruitment: Defence Forces Recruitment (13 Dec 2005)

Willie O'Dea: Entry to the Permanent Defence Force is either through the cadetship competition, apprenticeship competition, general service enlistment or direct entry competitions, which are held to fill vacancies in specialist appointments. All applicants for each of these entry streams are required to meet qualifying criteria. The Defence Forces equality policy, which was produced and formalised some...