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THE GOVERNMENT IS coming under pressure from the opposition to quickly appoint a new Minister for Defence.
Following the resignation of Alan Shatter last week, Taoiseach Enda Kenny took over the portfolio on an interim basis.
The Department of Defence was previously under the remit of the Minister for Justice and Equality, but has now been split away.
“I am concerned about how long this ‘interim’ arrangement might last,” Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Defence Seán Ó Fearghaíl said.
We cannot allow a situation where no Cabinet Minister is appointed to the role before the summer recess.
Ó Fearghaíl noted that the Minister for Defence is next scheduled to answer questions on the portfolio in the Dáil in late June.
“At the very least, the next Minister for Defence should be settled in the role some weeks before then,” the TD said, adding that “anything less” would show a “fundamental lack of respect for the position of Defence Minister and for the Defence Forces as a whole.”
A spokesperson for the Department of An Taoiseach said no time frame had yet been set for the appointment.
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Enda’s not sure who to appoint. He’s sitting on de fence.
*applauds*
What country would Enda like to invade ?
His own.
Enda will just upgrade to supreme over lord and disband the Dail. All hail the glorious leader
Don’t blame me, I voted for Kodos.
Jaysus not long I hope
He has invade Ireland you’ll be grand
Written all over him
How is this comment here 8 hours while the rest are minutes old!! :O
mind=blown
Glen explain please. Are you a time traveler, what sort of magic is this? The article is only an hour old but you’ve been here 9 hours.
If it was an episode if dads army or mash:
Captain Mannering played by Enda Kenny.
Corporal Jones played by Michael Ring.
Corporal Clinger played by brendan howlin.
Major Hotlips houlihan played Joan Burton.
Radar played by eamon Gilmore, apologies to radar.
Anybody know if this adds to Endas pay now that he holds 2 positions? A few weeks as MoD and hell be getting a full Ministers pension.. Wouldnt surprise me
If Enda lived for another hundred years he couldn’t spend all his pensions , remember when Brian Cowen and Mary Hanafin had several ministries in 2010 , did they get pensions for them as well as the ones who jumped ship ?
Pensions is a thing we have to look at.
Absolutely, they’re taking us for mugs. Like when Haughey talked about tightening belts. These chancers will make sure they have plenty of our money. And the rest given away.
So that’s something we need to change.
I think we can change it.
I don’t agree with any ex or current TD’s getting pensions.
I think that money could be much better spent.
Turkeys voting for Christmas? Maybe SF would put an end to such practice. Somebody has to, it’s a joke.
The politicians make up about one or two thousand people in the country. Their vote is nothing compared to ours. They can vote twice or thrice and still they won’t counteract the revolt of one small town.
Who are the turkeys though. Is it anyone on a government payroll and the business people and the politicians or is it the poor innocents who believe the lies and are struck by fear?
Why do you look to Sinn Fein to save you?
Do you think there’s another option?
No.
You don’t agree with ex or current TDs getting pensions? What are they supposed to do when they retire?
Roll over and die.
TD pension and pay should be performance based like every other job in the real world is outside of this politics bubble we’ve created in this country. Name me one other profession in which you can absolutely lay ruin to the sector youre working for, continue to do so for years and then walk away at the end with a pat on the back and a fat cheque in your pocket. When was the last time you saw the words ‘Department of Health’ or ‘HSE’ not followed closely by ‘over budget’? Its ridiculous how these people can mismanage and so ineptly handle our national services and then just drop it once their term is up with no repercussions its just handed to the next guy to do the same thing all over again. There need to be consequences for not properly doing what you were elected to do, and if those consequences mean withdrawal of pensions because you’re running youre department at a deficit for the fourth year running then so be it. I’ll try not to lose sleep over it.
Answer- Banking.
If that was the case Gilmore would be after it aswell
Why can’t they wait until 65+ like the rest of us.
It doesn’t add to his salary, neither does having multiple portfolios. This government specifically combined portfolios, reduced minister of state positions, and junior ministries for salary saving reasons. It will also have no effect on his pension, as multiple pensions from government/ seanad / county council positions have also been done away with. But then again, everybody already knows this, it just makes comments easier if you pretend you don’t
Another nail in enda’s coffin. The way our soldiers, sailors and airmen have been treated by now enda’s department is shocking. Maybe with a bit of luck he will follow in shatters footsteps.
Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen and women will all be made to feel, in no uncertain terms, that they must vote for Fine Gael. They will be told that their livelihoods depend on it.
Add into that group Teachers, Doctors, Guards, Judges, Public Servants and anyone else on a government payroll.
Think that grouping always vote FG Nigellus
Kate how little you know. …
Not all of them, no. After seeing the picture of the Teachers meeting a while ago standing and applauding in protest of the Minister for Education I was a little bit excite. It was great to see. I could see the look on the Ministers face and it wasn’t one of fear. To me it was nonchalance.
When he doesn’t get re-elected he will still retain a big pension which we will all pay for.
In the past I think that most people on government payrolls voted for the government of the day until things got so bad that they were forced to take the ‘nuclear option’.
This time round I don’t know what will happen. It’s hard to predict the majority of peoples actions.
Who will you vote for ?
Excellent point! As a member of the Defence Forces my weekly take home pay is down almost €200 a week since Enda ‘took over’! At the moment I’d be better off on the oul dole! But fupp it I like my job, I’ll get a credit union loan to send my son to college, I’ll pay my taxes, pay my refuse, (water rates when they come) household tax etc …….
So who is getting your No.1 vote.
And who will be your other preferences?
You and your group are being abused by the government.
He’ll stay as long as we allow him to stay.
Oh God, just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse!
What will be the straw for you?
Mine was reading about that motor neuron disease sufferer having a med card refused.
I’d rahter pay my tax share for his med card rather than my share going to fund ex-TDs pensions.
Or the story today where a parent of a 4 year old child with Down Syndrone was asked ‘if he still has it?’ Medical refused. Disgusting behaviour by a HSE employee.
What sort of idiots do they employ and does anybody check if their CV adds up?
Labour are on the run. It’s time to get the knives out for Fine Gael.
We need to research and publish all their lies.
Anthropologically speaking 20% of the country will vote Fine Gael and 20% will never. The 60% in between are the ones who need to be told what to do. They can’t make up their own minds and are susceptible to any and all influence. Right now they’re being throttled with spin for the government and they are listening to it and subconsciously thinking about how the country is doing so much better and a portion of them will vote.
You only need about 30% of the electorate to secure power.
Not voting is not an option this time round. We need to mobilise the electorate.
Money and land are and always will be two of the most important things here.
The money is in a very bad way and the land isn’t in our control.
What can I do but stand outside Kildare St. and protest whenever I get the chance. I don’t want to wreck the place and I don’t really want to beat up politicians, as much as I’d like to, because I’m Irish and I’m better than that. If the Guards beat me up for peacefully protesting then it’s another story.
( Peaceful protest in my eyes is hanging around the gates of Leinster House with a banner calling the government liars and how the system is broken. I’m not gonna shout or harass anyone or block any ones path )
Why would I take voting instructions from you?
60% who need to be told what to do. Have you any idea how fascist that sounds? Tell the population to vote the way you want them to?
Do we even need a minister for Defence? No country would stoop to the level of invading us
I’d be afraid of Ireland in invading some poor and unsuspecting country instead, to throw us all of the scent of all the shenanigans going on in the Dail.
When I did my National Service in Sweden a little over 20 years ago, with dual citizenship, my platoon leader honestly thought I was spying for the Irish forces. :-)
You know this article has nothing to do with Irelands imminent invasion by aliens and more to do with the Taoiseach supporting Alan Shatter to the hilt.
Enda Kenny has assumed a position totally foreign to him. He is not a Minister for Defence and yet we allow him to remain there high on the buzz of seeing Alan Shatters head roll.
How can a person run the Defence Ministry and the Office of the Taoiseach ? He can’t even hold a debate.
Take over for as long as you want.. I think the people of Ireland “for” and “against” have already made their decision!
I agree with waiting for the election day to burst the Taoiseachs bubble. He will still get away with a big pension though and that’s a problem.
As far as I know he’s gonna get multiple pensions.
Do we really need one? really ?
Yes and No.
Maybe we should rename it the Ministry of the Army.
We have no defence or offence roles relative to this territory. We don’t have to defend ourselves against anything.
I think it’s a good thing to participate in international peacekeeping missions.
We have no need for defence. No army in the world, today, is coming here.
Really? Have a quick google, one of the most admired forces in the ‘free’ world!
I googled that phrase and got nothing.
Got a link?
I think Ireland should retain an international peacekeeping force but a defence or offence role is completely unnecessary.
So who’s going to disarm and dispose all of the homemade explosives, patrol our naval borders or provide emergency services during a natural or man made disaster then ? Like it or not we need the Irish Defence Forces.
Why does it always boil down to the point of “we don’t need an army” “sure who’s going to invade us” why does Spain need an army, why does Austria need an army, why does Italy need an army. No other army in Europe operates on it’s own soil on a daily basis like the irish army ie in prisons, cash escorts, eod among other things, yet we have the lowest defence budget in the Western Hemisphere
It is very hypocritical of the opposition parties to criticise ‘double jobbing’ when they know perfectly well that when FF were in government ministers held two or three portfolios. With the current situation of Irish troops serving abroad it is critical that a senior government member has firm control of matters otherwise we could see our troops being deployed in more risky situations such as Nigeria or the Ukraine.
Definitely need a competent and focused person in the position and the Taoiseach is not that person in my eyes.
The risks faced by our guys abroad are real and the Taoiseach is playing with their lives right now. For politics.
At worst he is getting paid to do two jobs and we all know he is getting well paid, more “work” for him to justify his pay package
That’s it. When he retires he’s set for life. He probably won’t even live here.
Somehow we have to change this
Ah sure let him go
Let him go with or without the money?
I say without.
Not to disagree, but Is there any need to research their lies? Their stinging lies reverberated so strongly and remain in the publics consciousness and are not forgotten, just because they were told so recently. Old lies, current lies, future lies, cliched lies, and original lies are the bread and butter of these practitioners of the dark art of lying to enhance their positions. The quote “The only thing worse than a thief is a liar” springs to mind. The depths that these con artists are willing to plunge to, in order to bulk up their private fortunes is astounding. They are beyond contempt. Democracy to most of us spells fairness, to the human predator it spells prey.
There is a need to research and publish them for the ones who believe the lies.
I know enough of them and I suppose I should just print up a few stories and hand them out at public places and post them on lamp-posts around the place.
I think what you said about all the different types of lies proves that we need to publish their lies and get the word out.
@ Nigellus. I totally agree. Your intention is the same as mine but please don’t attempt to divulge this information on your own. It’s a minefield. There are so many vested interests, in so many areas, some legitimate and some not. Investigating these dark corners of life, is a akin to playing Russian roulette with your life. Posting the truth upon lampposts is something that in my youth, I would have not hesitated to do. Now, I am older, more circumspect and cautious. Truth is like gunpowder. Handle with care.
How long before he get an extra pension is the exact amount of time he we be interim minister!
The issue is that there can only be 15 members of the Government. They created the Department of Public Expenditure after the election, making space for it by having Shatter double up with Defence as well as Justice and Equality. So it has to be some current minister, until the bigger reshuffle.
On a side note, de Valera was his own Minister for External Affairs from 1932 to 1937.
Just got to hope Michael D our president remains in a good state of health or Enda could take over as president as well. We would then have ourselves a supreme Leader Enda Jong Un!
Shinner I assume. The Enda Jung Un comment comes from their trolls all the time. This from the party where you’re not allowed to arrest their leader on suspicion of anything.
Long enough to claim an other pension from it . I believe
We want to know how long Enda will stay ………..full stop
I thought Fitzgerald was the new minister
have your say