Results 541-560 of 1,114,551 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Máiría Cahill OR speaker:Catherine Byrne OR speaker:Richard O'Donoghue OR speaker:Christopher O'Sullivan OR speaker:Niall Collins OR speaker:Pa Daly OR speaker:Catherine Byrne9 OR speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett OR speaker:Simon Harris OR speaker:Darren O'Rourke OR speaker:Sorca Clarke OR speaker:Mairead Farrell OR speaker:Duncan Smith OR speaker:Paul Donnelly OR speaker:Imelda Munster OR speaker:Seán Haughey OR speaker:Gary Gannon OR speaker:Chris Andrews OR speaker:Denis Naughten OR speaker:Bríd Smith OR speaker:Louise O'Reilly OR speaker:Seán Fleming OR speaker:Willie O'Dea OR speaker:Pauline Tully OR speaker:Danny Healy-Rae OR speaker:John Lahart OR speaker:Catherine Byrne1 OR speaker:Alan Kelly OR speaker:Charlie McConalogue OR speaker:Seán Crowe)

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)

Mairead Farrell: Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Chathaoirleach agus leis na finnéithe as teacht os comhair an choiste. In the briefing pack it is mentioned that the Charities Regulator is responsible for the registration and regulation of charities in Ireland. Can I take it that the regulator grants charitable trust ownership structures to companies here as well? In other words, they must apply to...

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

Mairead Farrell: All right. Under the 2009 Act, the regulator is required to ensure and monitor compliance by charitable organisations and to carry out investigations in accordance with the Act. Does that apply to all companies with a charitable ownership structure?

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

Mairead Farrell: Does this include the type of structures that are traded within the IFSC?

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

Mairead Farrell: Why is that?

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

Mairead Farrell: I understand the regulator looked into this in 2017 and I think four companies were identified as using that section 110. Am I correct?

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

Mairead Farrell: According to a press statement from 2017 that the regulator has on its website: The Charities Regulator has completed a review of registered charities holding shares in section 110 companies on trust. The purpose of the review was to establish the number of registered Irish charities holding shares in section 110 companies and to determine whether they fell within the remit of the...

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

Mairead Farrell: It would be fantastic if that could be brought to the committee. I am talking about three structures and obviously I am not aware of what three they were or anything like that, so I am not speaking about them. I am sure they are doing fabulous work. When the regulator is looking at those I assume it looks into the background of them, such as the way they are constituted and if there is a...

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

Mairead Farrell: That is good. I asked about that because over the last two and a half years there has been significant interest in the IFSC and IFSC-based shell companies that often use charitable trust ownership structures. Some of these firms have billions in assets. We know about some examples from research carried out by academics in Trinity College showing that Russian-connected funds funnelled...

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

Mairead Farrell: Yes, in order to acquire status.

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

Mairead Farrell: Okay, but from the regulator's press statement there was the suggestion there were three that were using section 110. Ms. Delaney may wish to come back on that. I am just asking these questions because it is something I have a long interest in and it has been in the public eye. The Department of Finance did a review of section 110 in its entirety in the last year. Did it at any point ask...

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

Mairead Farrell: Okay. On the back of this, I ask the regulator to come back to the committee with detail. It could look back to 2017 and see what the story is with those three structures and whether there have been any others. An Teachta Verona Murphy outlined the concern about the amount of staff the regulator has to look through 11,060 charities and whether it has enough funding to be able to look at...

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

Mairead Farrell: 2023.

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

Mairead Farrell: The regulator.

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

Mairead Farrell: It is €79,000. I had just assumed. At least the regulator has moved from having a deficit to a surplus. I raise the issue of Stewarts Care, which was investigated by the HSE. I am just wondering what role the Charities Regulator had and why there was no charity regulator involved in any investigation.