Results 101-120 of 420 for in 'Dáil debates' speaker:Réada Cronin

Matters Arising in RTÉ: Statements (4 Jul 2023)

Réada Cronin: Like most people, I have watched the RTÉ crisis with dismay and disappointment. Unlike most people, I had a sneak preview of how the public duty of the national broadcaster was at complete odds with its commercial devotion to its advertisers and sponsors. At a meeting of the Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action last December, RTÉ did not seem to be able to join the...

Energy (Windfall Gains in the Energy Sector) (Temporary Solidarity Contribution) Bill 2023: Second Stage (Resumed) (29 Jun 2023)

Réada Cronin: I will open my short contribution by saying that when we consider the situation in the upper echelons of RTÉ and Horse Racing Ireland, not to mention the national children's hospital, it shows how valuable clarity is and how often it is best noted by its absence. The Bill before us also lacks that clarity on how the proceeds of this windfall tax are to be distributed and used. We in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (20 Jun 2023)

Réada Cronin: I would not disagree that the IRG was beneficial. I know the Women of Honour were not particularly supportive of it. They wanted it to go further. It cast light on many problems in the Defence Forces. The Opposition would be prepared to work with the Tánaiste on this. We could meet and talk about the terms of reference that would be used in this statutory inquiry and make sure that...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (20 Jun 2023)

Réada Cronin: 69. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence if he is willing to apply the terms of reference provided by the Women of Honour group to the planned statutory inquiry into abuse and bullying in the Defence Forces. [29859/23]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (20 Jun 2023)

Réada Cronin: Is the Tánaiste willing to apply the terms of reference provided by the Women of Honour group to the planned statutory inquiry into abuse and bullying in the Defence Forces?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (20 Jun 2023)

Réada Cronin: I understand the Tánaiste has met other stakeholders. I believe we have a particular duty to the Women of Honour group, especially given how the review into the situation of these women used language of a type and depth that I suspect has not been seen in very many other reports that have come to the House. Earlier we spoke about recruitment and retention. I have met these women....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (20 Jun 2023)

Réada Cronin: Have they been recording the working times?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (20 Jun 2023)

Réada Cronin: I ask the Tánaiste to outline his intentions regarding the acquisition of primary radar; if matters have progressed to the extent that either the Office of Government Procurement or the contracts branch of the Defence Forces are actively working in support of this; and if the Defence Forces have begun the work of identifying suitable locations for installations.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (20 Jun 2023)

Réada Cronin: The figure that is bandied about for the cost of this primary radar is €300 million. The Minister for Finance, Deputy McGrath, referenced the €176 million capital budget for the Defence Forces in budget 2023 and stated that the Government was going to prioritise the development of our primary radar capability. I understand that, as of March, an initial planning team has been...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (20 Jun 2023)

Réada Cronin: I heard it in the media and I just thought that maybe------

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (20 Jun 2023)

Réada Cronin: A starting point.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (20 Jun 2023)

Réada Cronin: In the report on the high-level action plan that was published in March of this year, the recommendation regarding primary radar is accepted in principle rather than being accepted, as most of the other recommendations were. Delivering primary radar really is a prerequisite in ensuring the surveillance of Irish-controlled airspace. I have spoken to members of Air Corps. There is a worry...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (20 Jun 2023)

Réada Cronin: The number of personnel in the Permanent Defence Force, PDF, stood at 8,828 in 2019. In March of that year, it was 8,366 while today it stands at what I had understood to be 7,797, although I believe the Tánaiste gave a different number.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (20 Jun 2023)

Réada Cronin: It is 7,764. I note that in the response to a recent parliamentary question tabled by my comrade, Deputy Carthy, the Tánaiste stated that his immediate focus would be on stabilising the number of personnel in the Defence Forces. I welcome that because retention is the most important thing. We have to retain the military personnel who are already trained and in whom money has been...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (20 Jun 2023)

Réada Cronin: I am taking this question on behalf of Deputy Carthy. Will the Tánaiste outline the establishment figure for the Army, the Naval Service and the Air Corps, the current number in each branch and the numbers in the years 2020, 2021 and 2022?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (20 Jun 2023)

Réada Cronin: In April, Lieutenant Colonel Conor King, general secretary of RACO, said that we cannot recruit ourselves out of a retention crisis. He is right because we would just be putting water into a leaky bucket. The figure I have for the number of discharges in 2022 is 891. That was higher than the figure for any year since 2017. The Tánaiste mentioned the working time directive at a recent...

Education Costs: Motion [Private Members] (20 Jun 2023)

Réada Cronin: I am very glad to hear the Minister will not oppose the motion because our asks are quite straightforward. We have put them to her this evening on behalf of people across north Kildare, including Leixlip, Celbridge, Maynooth and Naas, who are already struggling with the vicious series of mortgage rate hikes, exorbitant rents and a deep cost-of-living crisis. Even to get out your front door...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Jun 2023)

Réada Cronin: I have a question on the consultative forum on international security, which starts this week. Up until the welcome intervention from our Uachtarán, this was very much a conference for the select few by the selected few. I have already expressed concern around that. I thank the President formally for his intervention on behalf of all the people. I would also-----

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Jun 2023)

Réada Cronin: Okay. I have made the point several times in the Dáil that this forum would be over by the time people knew about it, as opposed to a citizens' assembly. Now that the necessary public attention has been brought to the matter, I have been contacted by some doves, as opposed to hawks, who have told me they would like to attend but there are no spaces available. Is there any chance the...