Results 2,541-2,560 of 11,320 for speaker:Matt Carthy

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: Which is it?

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: I take it the Attorney General's verbal intervention will be based on the written submission?

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: I want to move on because it is getting late. Regarding new diplomatic missions, despite the fact that a number of new embassies and consulates have been opened in recent years, we are still under represented in different parts of the world, either by having no representation or a very small presence. I have raised this issue a number of times. I was in Australia over the summer. It is...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: I will not raise again the issue a couple of summers ago of one particular envoy but the Minister has managed to raise the memory for me.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: Whether the Tánaiste was in this Department or not, he was certainly around the Cabinet table, if not heading it, if I remember correctly. Is the use of envoys something which has been quietly pushed to one side or is it something the Government is considering for either geographical regions or for particular political purposes into the future?

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: Neither do I, by the way.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: No.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: That is the point I was making. I said I would not revisit the case with the former Minister-----

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: -----but I do not actually think that we should rule out envoys for specific purposes into the future because we have a very rigid format which works well in how ambassadors and consuls are appointed compared to many other countries. They are not political appointments and that is correct-----

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: -----but there might be a rationale at different points in time to have envoys to the North Americas, the South Americas or wherever, and to have a broader strategic overview than that of a specific envoy.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: No, I am not.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: The Tánaiste has just commended the EU on having that precise model. The EU has missions and also has envoys.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: I have two very brief questions.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: And conveniently ignored if I remember correctly, Chair.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: Fair play, Chair. I have a quick question on diaspora supports. Going back to Melbourne, there was a recent report that a group of Irish people were looking into the prospect of establishing a Gaelscoil. I know there have been other areas where that has been looked at. Is that something the Department, in conjunction with perhaps the Department of culture and the Department of Education,...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: I have seen that again. I will mention Melbourne for the third time because-----

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: It did because there is actually a GAA club in Melbourne, called the Sinn Féin GAA club.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: I am sure the Minister would be very eager for Government to support that club and also its rival club which is called the Wolfe Tones GAA club. Apparently, the rivalry between the two clubs can get as intense as any inter-parish rivalry when it comes to their championship.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: There is no Fine Gael club as far as I know, Chair. I just want to touch on the passport service. I recognise the huge pressure it has been under over the past few years. I acknowledge that the service last year was immensely improved on the previous year. I have had experience of this. Online renewals are virtually without hitch. The service is very quick, efficient and easy to use....

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 27 - International Co-operation
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (1 Feb 2024)

Matt Carthy: I get cases where people might be making a one-day or a three-day appointment. It is very different if I live in this city. That is something a person can do on their lunch break or take a couple of hours off work. If somebody is coming from the top end of County Derry or Donegal, that is a very different scenario. That is a full day of their lives taken out, if there is childminding or-----