Results 1,641-1,660 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (24 Nov 2022)

Simon Coveney: We do set targets at the monthly meetings, not only for the remainder of this year, but also for next year. We are also planning investment programmes for the year ahead. For example, we are finalising a concept brief for the transformation of Gormanstown as a specialist training centre dealing with significantly greater numbers than we can currently deal with. We are planning for the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (24 Nov 2022)

Simon Coveney: If I could finish, I just have a couple of lines. A working group on medical care was established in 2021 to bring forward proposals and identify an approach to implementing the programme for Government commitment, including analysing the range and cost of treatments currently provided to officers and how best to provide this access to enlisted personnel.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (24 Nov 2022)

Simon Coveney: I hear you.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (24 Nov 2022)

Simon Coveney: If there is misinformation, I am not responsible for it in this instance. We have a working group looking at this. The group reported earlier this year and the matter is being progressed as one of the early actions in the high-level action plan of the report of the commission of the Defence Forces. It is in black and white and was part of the negotiation in terms of Estimates for next year...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (24 Nov 2022)

Simon Coveney: It is a commitment as an early action, which means we are looking to get on with it next year. This is not a simple thing to do. It costs money. We have to account for that, put it in Estimates and work with the representative bodies in the Defence Forces to make sure we are progressing it in a way that works. That work is under way. We have a working group that is focusing on this. It...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (24 Nov 2022)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Deputy. The report of the commission on the Defence Forces made it clear that the level of ambition, LOA, for the Defence Forces needed to be elevated beyond that at which it is operating. In that context, the Government approved a move over a six-year period to a level of Defence Forces capability equivalent to LOA 2 in the report. This will require an additional 2,000...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (24 Nov 2022)

Simon Coveney: I am more than aware of that but before starting to build numbers, you have to stop the losses. We are at that moment of changing momentum, I hope. We have an enormous financial commitment from Government and a policy framework to do that. We also have a plan of action linked to an independent report put together over a 12-month period. Since I have come into politics, there has never...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Air Corps (24 Nov 2022)

Simon Coveney: I will give the Deputy my answer and I am not sure if it is what the Deputy is looking for but I will come back with supplementary responses and perhaps clarify if she has further questions. The military air doctrine dates back to before the commission but I will put a number of things on the record and I will try to ensure that I answer the Deputy's questions then, if I can. The Defence...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Air Corps (24 Nov 2022)

Simon Coveney: Yes, I hope so and the sooner the better. The delivery of the air doctrine is not in itself a recommendation of the Commission on the Future of the Defence Forces or the high-level implementation plan. However, doctrinal development is part of the training and education command in the proposed future high-level command and control structure proposed in the Commission on the Future of the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Air Corps (24 Nov 2022)

Simon Coveney: I do not believe that there is a lack of clarity here but this is something which must continue to evolve. For me, growing and expanding the Air Corps is a very big part of what we will be doing over the next decade in the Defence Forces. For the obvious reasons that the Deputy has outlined, we have ten times as much sea surface as we have land surface. If one takes our sovereign territory...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Defence Forces (24 Nov 2022)

Simon Coveney: In fairness, I am surprised that the Deputy is perplexed that these issues have not been resolved because this is a commitment in the programme for Government to address this issue but this is through the lifetime of the Government. I hope to make a great deal of progress in the next 12 months but this is not an easy thing to address and there is quite a cost to it. I believe it will cost...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (24 Nov 2022)

Simon Coveney: All I can do is-----

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (24 Nov 2022)

Simon Coveney: I got the statistics I cited directly from the Defence Forces. Let us be clear on that. As it happens, I have my monthly recruitment and retention meeting with the general staff today. Every month now, I have a scheduled meeting on recruitment and retention with key leaders in the Defence Forces. We will keep having those meetings until we turn the tide on recruitment and retention...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (24 Nov 2022)

Simon Coveney: I expect the figures I outlined to be true, regardless of what is being said on social media platforms or in other media outlets. If they are not correct, there is obviously an issue. I expect the numbers I outlined are factually correct, however. We need to get an awful lot better at recruitment and retention in the Defence Forces in terms of how we manage people. That is why we have...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Investigations (24 Nov 2022)

Simon Coveney: I understand that sentiment and I understand people wanting to know the status of the report and the direction of travel in terms of thought and recommendations. The independent review group itself asked that the interim report would not be published, because its work is not complete. Publishing, therefore, or making publicly available work that has not concluded or been finalised is...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Investigations (24 Nov 2022)

Simon Coveney: That is true. This group is, of course, looking at historical cases and at how we should deal with them in a comprehensive manner to establish the truth and so on. It is also looking at current practices within the Defence Forces, as well as the culture and procedures within the body. As an employer, I have an obligation towards people who are currently serving in the Defence Forces to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (24 Nov 2022)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 and 4 together. I am informed that, contrary to what has been suggested, there is no exodus of doctors from the Defence Forces. Medical officers are recruited into the Defence Forces via two streams, direct entry and the military medicine training scheme, which is a five-year training programme leading to dual specialisation in both military medicine...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (24 Nov 2022)

Simon Coveney: My priority as Minister for Defence is to ensure that the operational capability of the Defence Forces is maintained to the greatest extent possible so as to enable the Defence Forces to carry out their roles as assigned by the Government. Capability equipment requirements are kept under ongoing review in light of present and expected operational needs. The White Paper on Defence 2015...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (24 Nov 2022)

Simon Coveney: These aeroplanes are due next year. We have been through a long and torturous process to make sure they are right.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (24 Nov 2022)

Simon Coveney: These is a lot more than the aircraft, if Deputy Clarke knows what I mean. Much of the expense is in kitting out the aircraft with the kind of equipment to which the Deputy referred, for example, a very advanced camera system that has the capacity not only to search the sea surface but also under the surface of the sea to a considerable depth. I have been asked repeatedly if it really costs...