Results 1-20 of 41 for land speaker:Cathal Berry

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Pre-European Council Meeting: Statements (20 Mar 2024)

Cathal Berry: .... The sooner those immobilised assets are put to good use, the better off we will all be. Regarding the European defence industry strategy, as the Taoiseach pointed, it is a dirty word in Ireland. If this country wants to have a defence force, and I believe it does, we have to arm it. We have two options. We can buy weapons and armoured vehicles for our peacekeeping operations from...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 35 - Army Pensions (Revised)
Vote 36 - Defence (Revised) (1 Feb 2024)

Cathal Berry: ...at least it has us moving in the right direction. I welcome that. I echo what my colleagues said about the patrol duty allowance that came into effect this day last month. The allowance has been doubled. This landed very well with those in the Naval Service. The members of the joint committee visited Naval Service headquarters 18 months ago. The increase was the big ask of the...

Financial Resolutions 2023 - Budget Statement 2024 (10 Oct 2023)

Cathal Berry: ...in this budget. The only standout measure for me in the budget is the increase of €15 million for defence pensions. I can say for sure that this will be nowhere near enough. This budget has landed very poorly. It has gone down like a lead balloon. If it had landed well, I would have said so. I was hoping it was going to be good, as most people were, but it certainly is not....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Current Issues Facing Members of the Defence Forces: Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (3 Oct 2023)

Cathal Berry: ...personnel. I would be grateful for the witnesses' thoughts on that. Housing is a massive issue. It is the number one issue in the country at the moment. The Defence Forces have loads of land. They have provided family housing in the past. They provide a small amount of housing already. What is RACO's view on military housing for military personnel? Should we be looking at it? ...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Engagement with the Reserve Defence Force Representative Association (11 Jul 2023)

Cathal Berry: ...is perfectly fine, if they think that is appropriate. A second positive is that, although most people may not be aware of this, four boats for the Naval Reserve are being constructed here in Ireland, in a shipyard in Valentia. I will try to get down there over the summer to eyeball them myself. It just shows that there are some positives happening. We are getting the hard stuff...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (15 Jun 2023)

Cathal Berry: ...not. He ensured that all his comrades were in there first and was one of the last people to make for the bunker. Unfortunately, and tragically, about 6 ft short of the main door, a mortar bomb landed and he was killed on site, which was a huge tragedy. To compound that tragedy, many of his colleagues and indeed his commanding officer have requested that the military recognise the...

Consultative Forum on International Security Policy: Statements (18 May 2023)

Cathal Berry: I am grateful to contribute to this important debate on Ireland’s defence and security posture. I welcome the fact that a conversation is finally, belatedly, taking place. For too long Ireland’s defence and security have been treated like kryptonite. We could not even discuss it or look at it in case, as Deputy O’Callaghan pointed out, even to discuss it would mean we...

Pre-European Council Meeting: Statements (7 Dec 2022)

Cathal Berry: ...to a joint sitting of the Houses of the Oireachtas last week was very good in terms of both content and delivery. I welcome her cast-iron commitment that there will be no hard border on the island of Ireland. That has been the long-standing EU position, but it is good that it is reinforced consistently. It is great to have people of President von der Leyen's stature in Ireland's corner....

Post-European Council: Statements (16 Nov 2022)

Cathal Berry: ...The preliminary supports suggest that what happened was caused by a Ukraine surface-to-air missile which was fired in good faith to intercept an incoming cruise missile but which malfunctioned and landed in Poland. Regardless of the cause, it does not make things easier for the families, but it emphasises the risk of escalation and the fact that there is no guarantee we can contain this...

Security of Electricity Supply: Motion [Private Members] (15 Sep 2022)

Cathal Berry: ...our ears. A second advantage of being in the EU is that from time to time we get good Directives that make a lot of sense. They are binding. We got a good Directive about 25 years ago when Ireland like all the member states was told to set up a National Oil Reserves Agency, NORA, and keep a minimum of 90 days' oil reserves in the country for a crisis. It was set up 25 years ago and we...

Post-European Council Meeting: Statements (13 Jul 2022)

Cathal Berry: ...will have to be moved, merchant shipping made available and perhaps Russian or Turkish naval assets might be used to secure a corridor. I agree with the proposal to move as much grain as possible over land via rail and road, but as Deputy Howlin said, there is not the capacity to move everything, so we have to look at a freighter option from a maritime perspective as well. In regard...

Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space: Motion (12 Jul 2022)

Cathal Berry: ...Gallery and I say well done ladies and gents. It is outstanding and inspirational work. It took five years' work. The team designed, built and tested and now they are almost ready to launch Ireland's first satellite, EIRSAT-1. It is a fantastic achievement and we very much look forward to greater details on it. It could be a precursor to something even more ambitious. We do not have...

Pre-European Council Meeting: Statements (21 Jun 2022)

Cathal Berry: ...First, I welcome that it now appears Ukraine and Moldova will officially be recognised as EU candidate countries once that is endorsed by the remaining member states. That is a good thing. Ireland, on balance, has benefitted enormously from our interaction with the European Union over the last 50 years, and the same opportunity should be extended to other countries as well. It has been...

Annual Transition Statement: Statements (15 Jun 2022)

Cathal Berry: ...the importance of farming. This country is already feeding the world. We may as well power the world too while we are at it. If we think back to what our grandparents did, they electrified the land with the establishment of the national grid. It falls to our generation now to electrify the sea. We must increase our ambition and accelerate our implementation regarding offshore wind...

Journalists in Conflicts across the World: Statements (24 May 2022)

Cathal Berry: ...helmets are a necessity in conflict zones. When looking at the current video footage, I am always concerned when I see soft-skin vehicles being driven by journalists. There are up-armoured Toyota Land Cruisers available that provide considerable protection from small-arms fire. Every responsible media outlet should be providing that equipment for its employees, particularly those it is...

Vacant Properties: Motion [Private Members] (6 Apr 2022)

Cathal Berry: ...would be happy to show him around. There are more than 50 houses lying derelict in the camp. It is completely unacceptable. They are boarded up. We are familiar with dereliction in every town in Ireland but some of it can be explained as the bank owning the house, or a house being in receivership or awaiting probate. However, these more than 50 houses in the Curragh are all publicly...

Support for the Sovereignty and Territorial Integrity of Ukraine: Motion (1 Mar 2022)

Cathal Berry: ...months. Unfortunately, those concerns were well founded and now we are in a very dodgy place whereby Europe is once again at war, for the first time in the 21st century from the point of view of a land war. I utterly condemn the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, that is, not only the fact it is happening but also the manner in which it is being done. We should not forget...

Security Situation in Europe: Statements (23 Feb 2022)

Cathal Berry: ...considered in this instance because of the hostile nature of where they are based. What a very small discreet Defence Forces team could bring to the table is it could deploy with armoured Toyota land cruisers rather than the soft skin vehicles there at present. It could also provide security and contingency planning for evacuation. Most important, it could provide medical backup in the...

Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Statements (16 Feb 2022)

Cathal Berry: ...outlined. A good comparison is an insurance policy. Defence forces are not just needed in times of conflict; they are also needed in times of peace in order to provide national resilience. If Ireland was a car, LOA 1 would be the equivalent of third party-only insurance, LOA 2 would third-party fire and theft insurance and LOA 3 would be a comprehensive insurance policy. One of the...

Offshore Renewable Energy: Motion [Private Members] (8 Dec 2021)

Cathal Berry: ..., and our group administrator, Ms Cáit Nic Amhlaoibh, who did most of the heavy lifting to prepare the motion I have just three points to make in the time allowed. The first is about Ireland's geographical location. We have all been under the impression that, geographically, we were disadvantaged because we are a small island on the periphery of Europe hundreds of kilometres...