Results 30,181-30,200 of 33,214 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Wind Energy Generation (8 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: To the best of my knowledge, we are having a debate. If the Senator is entitled to put points to me, I am equally entitled to respond, which is what I am doing. I am simply making the point that given that many were calling for a period of public consultation, let us see what the results of it will be before the Senator decides that it is not sufficient.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Wind Energy Generation (8 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I am speaking to the representative of a party that has a track record in spending taxpayers' money on consultants that would put any other Government to shame.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Wind Energy Generation (8 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank Senator Ó Domhnaill for raising this issue. Ireland is fortunate to have very rich wind resources. We can exploit these renewable resources to generate electricity, reduce our import bills for gas and oil and contribute to decarbonising our energy systems. The exploitation of this clean, sustainable and indigenous resource will allow us to break our dependence on expensive...

Current Crisis in Ukraine: Motion (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I move:That Dáil Éireann: rejects the validity of the referendum held in Crimea on 16th March without the minimum democratic guarantees which cannot pave the way for a change of borders between Russia and Ukraine; condemns the illegal annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation which violates the sovereignty, political independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine in...

Other Questions: Northern Ireland Issues (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: In regard to the two points the Deputy makes, I have already made clear that the Tánaiste earlier this week discussed the situation of the threat that is in place in regard to officers and members of staff working in this prison. That must be lifted to ensure those prison officers have the ability to do their very difficult work safely. When that threat is lifted, it will create the...

Other Questions: Human Rights Issues (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: Through our participation in the United Nations Human Rights Council we make clear our concerns over the human rights situation in Egypt. In the earlier answers I gave to Deputy Wallace in particular and to Deputy Boyd Barrett, I made clear the great concern we have over the use of a penalty to which we are fundamentally opposed and the process by which this stage of the judgment has been...

Other Questions: Northern Ireland Issues (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 9, 15 and 31 together. The Tánaiste has regular comprehensive discussions with the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Ms Theresa Villiers, MP, most recently on Monday, 31 March, about the overall situation in the North and the state of the peace process. They discussed the security situation, including attacks on the PSNI, attacks and...

Other Questions: Northern Ireland Issues (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I fully appreciate the Deputy's objective in raising this question, which is to ensure that peace in Northern Ireland is not destabilised in any way. I certainly would not mean to infer that the Deputies' questions are motivated by anything other than that objective. I share that objective and I understand the context for it. I make two points in response. I absolutely deplore the...

Other Questions: Human Rights Issues (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: It is a substantial number of people

Other Questions: Human Rights Issues (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I would like to emphasise what has already happened, and what has yet to happen, in this regard. When High Representative Ashton met the Egyptian Foreign Minister on behalf of the EU on Monday, she made it clear that there is a high level of worry at EU level about the possible imposition on a shocking number of people of a penalty to which we are fundamentally and irrevocably opposed. I...

Other Questions: Human Rights Issues (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I am not saying for a moment that the Deputy did so deliberately. I remind the House that these sentences have yet to be confirmed. In the meantime, Ireland and the EU will continue to emphasise our worry and make it clear that it would be unacceptable for such a penalty to be carried out.

Other Questions: Human Rights Issues (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for his questions. I would like to remind him, in response to his comments about the export of arms, that a number of measures were agreed at an extraordinary meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in August 2013. The measures in question, which relate to the violent suppression of the protests mentioned by Deputy Boyd Barrett, have since been implemented. I will explain...

Other Questions: Human Rights Issues (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I would like to remind the House of the breadth of the measures introduced by the EU in response to some of the issues mentioned by the Deputy. They relate, for example, to the export of products that could be used for the kinds of behaviours and practices that we absolutely condemn. The Deputy drew an analogy between what is happening in Crimea and what is happening in Egypt. The key...

Other Questions: Human Rights Issues (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: -----allow people to peacefully determine their own futures, where their borders should be and how they want to engage with other countries. That did not happen in Crimea. As I have made clear at all times, the EU has condemned what has happened in this case. The Deputy asked whether further steps have been taken by Ireland. Early last month, we sponsored a cross-regional statement on the...

Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputies for their questions. On what Deputy Daly said to me, we should be clear that there is absolutely no equivalence between the values of the European Union in respect of dealing with Ukraine-----

Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: -----and what we have seen from Russia. Has the Deputy seen the European Union seek to expand its borders unilaterally and change those of another country?

Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: We have seen the European Union work with countries on the basis of the wishes of their peoples. On the question of whether the European Union sought to put in place armies on the territory of another country, as happened in Crimea, the answer is "No". I welcome the debate here. It is the kind of exchange of views we should have on the floor of the Dáil. I am happy to express mine...

Other Questions: Human Rights Issues (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 7, 12 and 23 together. Ireland is strongly opposed to capital punishment under all circumstances. Opposition to the death penalty is also a core principle of the European Union’s external relations policies. The verdict of the Minya court, which issued 529 death sentences on individuals convicted of a variety of offences, including the murder of a...

Other Questions: Human Rights Issues (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for raising this extremely worrying breach of human rights. I must emphasise two points in response to his questions. The events are exceptionally worrying and disturbing. I have already outlined the contact that has occurred at EU level and the further discussions that will take place on the matter. I emphasise again how exceptionally disturbing and worrying these...

Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I have a question for the Deputy in return. We were dealing with a Government in Ukraine which said it wanted to join the European Union and on which the European Union engaged in good faith and which reflected the views of many people within the country. What would the Deputy have done in response to that? Does the Deputy really believe there is parity and equivalence between what the...