when the government collapsed. After the 1997 general election, Fianna Fáil were back in government in coalition with the Progressive Democrats and O'Dea was appointed a Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science. Here he had responsibility for Adult Education and the School Transport Scheme. He oversaw reform and increased investment in adult education and back to school initiatives, starting with the launch of Green Paper in November 1998. Following the 2002 general election, O'Dea was appointed Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform with special responsibility for Equality and Disability Issues. His main responsibility during this period was the passage of the Disabilities Bill, which the government had been forced to withdraw in early 2002 in the teeth of opposition from the disability sector. After a number of changes, including a form of the independent assessment of needs demanded by the disability organisations, O'Dea introduced a new bill in September 2004 along with an implementation package. In September 2004, O'Dea was appointed Minister for Defence in a cabinet reshuffle. His tenure commenced as the army deafness compensation issue was starting to come to an end. In November 2005, O'Dea was photographed during a media event at the Curragh Camp pointing an automatic pistol at a photographer. The photo appeared on the front page of The Irish Times the following day. O'Dea apologised saying that it was not his intention to glamorise gun crime. As Minister for Defence, O'Dea prioritised two particular issues: the recruitment of more women to the Defence Forces and the promotion of more serving non-commissioned members to the commissioned ranks, often called "promotion from the ranks". He also presided over Ireland's second tour in Lebanon in late 2006, as part of UNIFIL 2 and participation in the EUFOR mission to Chad. O'Dea and Limerick O'Dea is highly identified with his native Limerick. Three main issues have dominated his recent pronouncements on Limerick: Shannon Airport, Dell and gangland crime. In August 2007, he broke ranks with cabinet colleagues to speak out against Aer Lingus's decision to cease London Heathrow Airport flights from Shannon. In December 2008, O'Dea and Tánaiste Mary Coughlan flew to Dell's Corporate HQ in Texas, in a last-ditch and ultimately futile attempt to stop the closure of Dell's manufacturing plant in Raheen, Limerick. Manufacturing was moved to Poland, with the loss of about two thirds of