85. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Defence the capacity of the Defence Forces and security forces generally to respond to drone incursions in Irish aerospace and to respond to reported suspicious drone activity near Dublin Airport during the visit of President Zelenskyy. [72050/25]
TDs / Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire
Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire
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495
questions asked
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114,890
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377
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101
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| Month | Questions | Contributions |
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- constituency Cork South-Central 29 November 2024 to now
- party Sinn Féin 29 November 2024 to now
The presence of drones in Dublin Bay during the visit of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was the source of much commentary internationally and domestically. We are facing into a crucial year in which security, and the ability of this State to ensure the safety and security of high-level meetings and the people attending them, will be under a good deal of scrutiny, which needs to come through.
We need to consider the p…
To be clear, there is no doubt but that the presence of drones such as this in our airspace is a threat to our national security. The neglect of the Defence Forces by the past three Governments, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in their various turns, has created a threat to our national security. The Minister spoke about bringing forward the radar picture, the anti-drone system and counter unmanned air system capabilities.…
There are many comments I would like to make but the first relates to the timeline. It sounds extremely tight. It will be purchased within the first half of the year but that is not a lot of time for the personnel to get used to this and ensure protocols are in place and so on. What struck me most was clearly the visit of President Zelenskyy was very welcome and worthwhile but the Minister has talked about it proving…
87. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Defence further to recent Dáil debates, her views on past health and safety measures in the Air Corps; the actions she intends to take to support former aircraft maintenance and ancillary personnel; whether she intends to ensure their medical needs are met; and the other supports that can be offered to the category as a whole. [72051/25]
This is probably the Minister's first time debating this particular matter but the issue of the potential adverse health outcomes for former aircraft maintenance personnel in the Air Corps has been discussed a lot over the years. Many people who served in aircraft maintenance believe many have suffered very severe health outcomes, including untimely deaths, because of exposure to dangerous chemicals. What is the Mini…
The reality is that this is not an issue that has only arisen in Ireland. We know that in other jurisdictions such as Australia and the Netherlands exposure to very powerful, strong and dangerous chemicals caused adverse health outcomes for personnel in those locations. Australia took a sensible approach. Officials evaluated the situation trhough the study of health outcomes for aircraft maintenance personnel and the…
The Minister is right that the men and women of the Defence Forces are its greatest asset. The weight of this needs to be emphasised. The Air Corps Chemical Abuse Survivors, ACCAS, group has identified what it believes to be 110 untimely deaths. It has used that language advisedly because the link needs to be proven in that regard. However the group has questions and concerns over that many deaths and serious illness…
88. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Defence for an update on the capacity in the Naval Service, in terms of personnel, specialist personnel and fleet; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [72052/25]
We have had a fair bit of discussion in recent weeks in on capital investment, but there is obviously the need for current investment. Our Naval Service has serious challenges because of a lack of specialist staff. Some of that is because of their attractiveness to employers in the private sector. The State invest in training people but then they are lost and not retained. That is holding back the full development of…
The key question I raise here and my key concern about the Naval Service is to do with specialist personnel. The Naval Service such as it is today requires people with very high skills. Many of them gain these skills within the Naval Service, but we have had the embarrassing situation in the past 12 months that a navy ship was put to sea without a functioning main gun. The reason for that is the Naval Service did not…
It is not merely about small numbers - although the numbers are small - it is also about the proportion and the fact that of the cadre six who went into the 63rd naval cadet class, only two were commissioned. Two thirds of that cadre, however small, left early. That is the issue. Specialist numbers within the Naval Service are critically low despite targeted recruitment. Some of that is due to the extensive time requ…
95. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Defence her views on the matter of entry-level cadet pay; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [72046/25]
We had a discussion a short time ago about specialist staff. Connected to that is the whole issue of cadet training and their experience. There is the issue of entry-level cadet pay. It has been well flagged by RACO, including at the conference a few weeks ago, and the fact that it has not kept pace with some of the other increases in the system.
The Minister said a while ago that she was going to meet all the representative organisations. I welcome that and hope that includes not only those for the Permanent Defence Force but also those for the Reserve Defence Force and the veterans' organisations. I am sure RACO will raise this issue with the Minister. The information she gave was in the longer run, when they are qualified and reach a certain rank. The issu…
97. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Defence the progress her Department has made regarding the establishment of a joint cybersecurity command and other actions related to cybersecurity contained in the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. [72045/25]
We have spoken about how potential defence and national security issues will not always be what we have traditionally imagined. Cybersecurity and hybrid threats are going to be significant features of that. The cybersecurity command has been established, which was called for in the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. That is very welcome, but progress in the implementation of its plans is what we now need…
I appreciate that it was not specifically written in the question, but if the Minister has the figure to hand, what does she expect the strength to be by the end of next year? I would appreciate that.
The architecture around the whole area of cybersecurity is a little bit complicated in the sense that the National Cyber Security Centre is responsible for protecting the State broadly speaking, the Garda has responsib…
It is very possible that future threats to our national security will potentially arise in a hybrid way. It is not inconceivable that we could have a kinetic or physical element to something, such as what we had with drones recently, as well as a co-ordinated cyberattack on Defence Forces' equipment, personnel and installations to hinder the ability of the Defence Forces to deal with the kinetic element of it, for ex…
I support what Deputy O'Hara is asking for. I happened to be present at the presentation of a medal in 2019 to the family of Joe Murphy. It was presented to his nephew Henry Delaney and is a source of great pride to that family. If the evidence is there, these medals are very important to families and the local community.
A issue that was raised with me by Jim Hegarty, a nephew of John Joe Hegarty who was a member o…
This is the arbitration Bill and that is what we are dealing with. We are dealing with legislation that in my view takes decisions that would be rightly made by Irish courts in relation to Irish business decisions and seconds them to an international court of a kind over which we have no oversight and no power. That is the fundamental issue.
I agree that we are in a challenging trade environment. I believe a great d…
The housing plan the Government has outlined doubles down on policies that are not working and is ultimately not going to address the affordability issue. We have policies that are adding fuel to the fire and encouraging inflation in the cost of housing.
One of the most frustrating conversations I have in constituency offices is with people who are on an income - a person or a household - between €40,000 and €90,000…
1. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade for an update on her Department’s recent engagements with the government of Ukraine in relation to the ongoing conflict and efforts made to reach a ceasefire. [66753/25]
First, I want to take the opportunity to wish the Minister, Deputy McEntee, the best of luck in her new role. I look forward to working with her on issues of concern to Ireland and our interests.
The question relates to our engagement with the Government of Ukraine and to the ongoing conflict and the efforts made to reach a ceasefire. Unfortunately, some of the discussions in recent weeks and some of the proposals o…
I think it was last week that we had statements on Ukraine. They are now an annual occurrence. Every time they occur, many contributors reflect that they hope the next time such statements happen, there will be a ceasefire. Unfortunately, the war and assault on Ukraine continue unabated. In recent weeks, we have seen some appalling attacks, including on Ternopil, with civilians and civilian infrastructure being targe…