Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I take it the reason the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade did not answer my question on the costs for the honorary consul in Teheran is because there is a review under way. I will wait until he has all the information on that one.

There is no doubt there is increasing tension in areas in Northern Ireland. I have discussed the prisoner issue with the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade before. What we are seeing on our prison visits to the North is an increase in the number of prisoners left on remand for a lengthy time. That is not doing the peace process any good. We have met loyalist prisoners too and they also have issues. Is there anyone working on these issues? Is there any way our office can be more proactive on this issue before it gets out of hand?

In 2013, some 267 applications for funding were received for the reconciliation and anti-sectarianism funds with grants awarded to support some 152 projects. What criteria are used to determine which applications are accepted and those which are not?