Results 1-11 of 11 for defence forces strength speaker:Gerard Craughwell

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Feb 2023)

Gerard Craughwell: ...This week, we learned again of an assault on gardaí. We are in a situation where the uniformed services are falling apart. Seven or eight years ago, I started talking about the problems in the Defence Forces. It took six years to get a commission in place and we are still waiting to see its output. The strength of the Defence Forces is now below 8,000. An Garda Síochána...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Nov 2022)

Gerard Craughwell: I would never question the Leas-Chathaoirleach's impartiality. He is indeed a man of honour. I frequently speak in the Chamber about our Defence Forces. Yesterday, I had the honour of visiting the Air Corps in Baldonnel. I met a wonderful group of people who are loyal servants of the State but I also saw how pathetically they are supported. We have eight traineeship aircraft in Baldonnel...

Seanad: Defence (Amendment) Bill 2020: Second Stage (28 Sep 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: I welcome the Minister to the House and thank him for taking the time to meet the women of honour today. I will place on record the concerns my former colleagues in the Defences Forces have. The nature of the complaints being brought forward by the women of honour, brave women that they are, and the things they talk about tend to happen behind closed doors and in secret. The few...

Seanad: Search and Rescue System: Motion (28 May 2021)

Gerard Craughwell: ...must migrate to a hybrid model providing layers of resilience in a mix of sovereign and commercial service delivery protecting against industrial action which would ground aircraft; acknowledges that: - the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, along with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence, Simon Coveney, are both favourably disposed to the Irish Air Corps delivering part of the...

Seanad: Defence Matters: Statements (27 Feb 2019)

Gerard Craughwell: The Minister of State is welcome. I congratulate him, the Defence Forces and his Department on the launch of the symposium on the brigade activity reports on the military service pensions collection on Saturday at Cathal Brugha Barracks. It was a tremendous success. The members of the public who were present were extremely impressed by the work done by the military archives. It is a great...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: 2018 State of the Union Address and Related Matters: European Commission Representation in Ireland (28 Nov 2018)

Gerard Craughwell: ...a bureaucratic animal that is somewhat detached from citizens on the ground. The work of Mr. Timmermans on subsidiarity might change that over time and I hope it does because one of the great strengths of the European Union is our diversity. We recognise that no two countries are the same and I hope that continues to be the case. There is no way to make a single culture throughout...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Nov 2018)

Gerard Craughwell: I am delighted to find the Leader in good spirits again today. I wish to refer again to the Defence Forces. I read this morning that the Permanent Defence Force Other Ranks Representative Association, PDFORRA, has 30 cases lined up for the courts with respect to the working time directive and there will be many more such cases. There are also High Court cases pending related to the use of...

Seanad: Defence Forces: Statements (1 May 2018)

Gerard Craughwell: I thank the Minister of State and the Leader for facilitating this debate at my request. As the Minister of State knows, the first official review of the 2015 White Paper on Defence is due to commence in July. Even though the ten-year White Paper is only into its third year, the world is certainly a very changed place. Brexit, the uncertainty of a hard border, increased international...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Apr 2018)

Gerard Craughwell: One does not get a chance to respond to the Leader's response at the end of the Order of Business. Yesterday, he put up a sterling defence of the pay rise given to the Department of Defence people. Indeed he was correct. It was a 24% increase, not 25%. This means that 84.12% of members of the Defence Forces are 7% worse off than every other worker in this State based on averages. We also...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 May 2017)

Gerard Craughwell: Tonight's "Prime Time" programme will feature a piece on the Defence Forces. I commend PDFORRA and RACO on their excellent work on behalf of their members. The Leader will be aware that neither of these two representative bodies has the full rights of a trade union and therefore they are extremely limited in what they can and cannot do. Anybody watching what is going on at the moment hears...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Oct 2016)

Gerard Craughwell: Yes. The House must have a debate on the Defence Forces with the Minister. It is a crisis situation. The Defence Forces are below strength at present and that cannot continue. The Defence Forces have no voice aside from their representative bodies. They have nobody to speak for them and no industrial relations process open to them other than through their representative bodies. As a...