Results 541-560 of 1,138,597 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Eoin Ó Broin OR speaker:Imelda Munster OR speaker:Réada Cronin OR speaker:Richard Bruton OR speaker:Paul Donnelly OR speaker:Duncan Smith OR speaker:Malcolm Noonan OR speaker:Richard Bruton8 OR speaker:Sorca Clarke OR speaker:Hildegarde Naughton OR speaker:Peter Fitzpatrick OR speaker:Aodhán Ó Ríordáin OR speaker:Patrick O'Donovan OR speaker:Pádraig Mac Lochlainn OR speaker:Rose Conway-Walsh OR speaker:Barry Cowen OR speaker:Steven Matthews OR speaker:Carol Nolan OR speaker:Martin Browne OR speaker:David Stanton OR speaker:Mattie McGrath OR speaker:Alan Farrell OR speaker:Paschal Donohoe OR speaker:Jennifer Whitmore OR speaker:Martin Kenny OR speaker:Ciarán Cannon OR speaker:Darragh O'Brien OR speaker:Cian O'Callaghan OR speaker:John McGuinness OR speaker:Ivana Bacik OR speaker:Claire Kerrane OR speaker:David Cullinane)

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (17 Oct 2024)

Micheál Martin: There is a national security committee which co-ordinates all of the work. I think there are issues in terms of an accountability chain to the Oireachtas and the Government of the day. That is why there is an examination under way. There needs to be work done on ensuring a proper accountability chain and a framework governing both military intelligence and intelligence activities more...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (17 Oct 2024)

Gary Gannon: The Tánaiste might give us some timelines in respect of the evaluation that he spoke of. It is important that this is not used as a political football and that we approach it in a mature way. There are some examples that take us by surprise. Last month, my constituency colleague seemed to come under some sort of misinformation attack from outside the State. A report came in that the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (17 Oct 2024)

Micheál Martin: We have good quality intelligence networks in the country. An Garda Síochána does a very good job, as does military intelligence. The Commission on the Defence Forces outlined significant reforms in respect of military intelligence and the majority of its recommendations were accepted by Government. These include strengthening military intelligence capabilities; the establishment...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (17 Oct 2024)

Gary Gannon: I have not accepted it. I am wondering why the State is not pursuing it.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (17 Oct 2024)

Micheál Martin: I am not saying the Deputy has but, generally, people did in the beginning. People actually did. I was questioned in the Dáil as if it was a fact.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (17 Oct 2024)

Gary Gannon: As you should be.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (17 Oct 2024)

Micheál Martin: It was not a fact.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (17 Oct 2024)

Gary Gannon: It is about your pursuance of it.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (17 Oct 2024)

Defence Forces

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (17 Oct 2024)

Matt Carthy: 5. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the recruitment target for the Defence Forces; and the number who were inducted and the number who left the Defence Forces in each year from 2020 to 2024. [42033/24]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (17 Oct 2024)

Matt Carthy: This question is to adjudicate the performance of the Government in respect of the Defence Forces. Sometimes the Tánaiste says there is unfair criticism. It would be important to set out for the Dáil, in each year of this Government from 2020, the target recruitment for the Defence Forces and, in each year, how many were actually inducted and how many left, in other words, the net...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (17 Oct 2024)

Micheál Martin: The military authorities have advised me that as of 31 August 2024, the latest date for which such information is available, the strength of the Permanent Defence Force stood at 7,426. A table containing the requested induction and discharges figures for each year from 2020 to 2024 will be provided to the Deputy. I have acknowledged in the past the recruitment and retention challenges in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (17 Oct 2024)

Matt Carthy: It is hard to ask a supplementary question when I do not have the substantive response to the question I asked. I take the Tánaiste's commitment to provide the precise figures. Here is what we do know from the Tánaiste's response. There are currently fewer than 7,500 members of our Defence Forces, 2,000 below the establishment figure and a whopping 4,000 below the two-figure...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Ciarán Cannon: I thank the witnesses for being here today. I was fortunate enough to head up a charity for almost seven years and I know the value of the work the regulator does in sustaining the public's trust in the charity sector as a whole and allowing charities to continue doing the good work they do. I thank it for that. In May of this year, the regulator issued a statement urging charities to be...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Ciarán Cannon: In her opening statement, Ms Delaney outlined that the office oversees a very diverse landscape of charities, ranging from small volunteer-led charities, sometimes operating in small communities and perhaps only serving the needs of that particular community, to very large entities with budgets of millions of euro. In her most recent response, she mentioned webinars. Does the regulator...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Ciarán Cannon: The provision Ms Delaney refers to has not yet been enacted. Is the regulator proactively seeking that power to oblige charities, particularly those recently established charities, to attend webinars? I would argue these webinars are very much in their interests as regards their governance, the public's trust in them and their credibility. Would the regulator encourage Government or the...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Ciarán Cannon: From Ms Delaney's perspective as CEO, what are the largest challenges facing her organisation right now in late 2024 in doing the work it does? How does she suggest they should be addressed?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

Ciarán Cannon: What does that mean?

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Funding (17 Oct 2024)

Micheál Martin: The Defence Vote group comprises of two Votes: Vote 35 - Army pensions and Vote 36 - defence. The 2023 Vote 36 – defence net surplus surrendered to the Exchequer was €18.1 million. This figure includes surplus appropriations-in-aid of €9.1 million, which, as the Deputy will be aware, cannot be used to fund additional expenditure and must be surrendered to the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Funding (17 Oct 2024)

Matt Carthy: People will be astounded to see the Department of Defence surrendering any money back to the Exchequer, considering the challenges that the Defence Forces are currently facing in the retention and recruitment crisis and the ambitions that have been set out, particularly in the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. I have raised with the Tánaiste on a number of occasions the...