Results 43,241-43,260 of 51,305 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (15 Dec 2010)

Micheál Martin: A total of seventy-five civil servants are assigned from Ireland to the Permanent Representation in Brussels, of which 39 are officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs and 36 are from other Government Departments and Offices. A full breakdown by grade is contained in the table below. Officers assigned to the Permanent Representation do not receive extra remuneration in connection with...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (14 Dec 2010)

Micheál Martin: Light refreshments, such as tea and coffee, are provided at certain meetings and functions held in Iveagh House, and come from the stocks centrally purchased by my Department's Protocol Division. Details of expenditure by Protocol Division on tea, coffee and bottled water, including the relevant service provider, are included in the table below. It has not been possible in the time available...

Written Answers — Departmental Appointments: Departmental Appointments (14 Dec 2010)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 195 and 196 together. As Minister for Foreign Affairs, I make appointments to four bodies - the Ireland-United States Commission for Educational Exchange (the Fulbright Commission), the Development Education Advisory Committee and the Irish Aid Expert Advisory Group. I re-appointed Ms. Una Halligan to the Ireland-United States Commission for Educational...

Written Answers — Territorial Claims: Territorial Claims (14 Dec 2010)

Micheál Martin: Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea each State Party to the Convention is entitled to continental shelf for 200 nautical lines from its coast. States with an extended continental shelf that stretches beyond 200 nautical miles are obliged to lodge a claim with the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf within 10 years of becoming party to the Convention....

Written Answers — Foreign Investigations: Foreign Investigations (14 Dec 2010)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Question Nos. 198 and 199 together. I refer the Deputy to my reply to Question No. 73 of last Thursday, 9 December, in connection with this case mentioned by him. As he will be aware from that reply, the Department of Foreign Affairs is still awaiting a formal response from the Office of the President of Botswana with the findings of their review of this case and until this...

Written Answers — Human Rights Issues: Human Rights Issues (14 Dec 2010)

Micheál Martin: I am aware that a number of blogs on the Internet have alleged recently that the US Department of Defence forced detainees at the Guantánamo Bay detention facility to take a high dosage of the anti-malarial drug, mefloquine, whether they presented with malarial symptoms or not. These remain unsubstantiated allegations and have not been raised with the US authorities. Together with our EU...

Written Answers — Diplomatic Communications: Diplomatic Communications (14 Dec 2010)

Micheál Martin: The exchange of information between governments, reporting by diplomatic missions and the assessment of diplomatic personnel are an important aspect of the formulation of foreign policy and the conduct of international relations. For a variety of reasons, including political and commercial, it is important that such exchanges take place in confidence. This is not inconsistent with a...

Written Answers — Foreign Investigations: Foreign Investigations (9 Dec 2010)

Micheál Martin: As the Deputy will recall from our recent correspondence, our Embassy in Maputo and our Honorary Consul in Botswana have been closely following the case mentioned by him. Our Honorary Consul was informed last August by the Director of the Department of Justice, Defence and Security that a thorough review of the case had begun. The Deputy will also recall that the Director indicated that...

Written Answers — Departmental Functions: Departmental Functions (9 Dec 2010)

Micheál Martin: The Consular Section of my Department can authenticate or apostille documents executed in Ireland that are to be used in other countries. Authenticating or apostilling a document simply means confirming that a signature, seal or stamp appearing on the document is genuine. Authenticating or apostilling does not mean that the content of a document is accurate or that the Department of...

Written Answers — Human Rights Issues: Human Rights Issues (9 Dec 2010)

Micheál Martin: I refer the Deputy to my previous written answers number 205 of 20 October 2010, numbers 72 and 73 of 28 October 2010 and number 222 of 11 November 2010 to Deputy Michael Creed which outline the assistance we have provided to the father, to date, through our Honorary Consul in Phuket and our Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. Our consular services continue to pursue this matter with vigour. Last...

Written Answers — State Bodies: State Bodies (9 Dec 2010)

Micheál Martin: There are no State Agencies operating under the auspices of my Department. The Board of the Ireland-United States Commission for Educational Exchange (the Fulbright Commission) does operate under the aegis of my Department. However, it is financed jointly by the Irish and US Governments and enjoys autonomy of management and administration, including relating to the remuneration of its...

Written Answers — Human Rights Issues: Human Rights Issues (8 Dec 2010)

Micheál Martin: I am aware of the campaign by the Mothers of Soacha in relation to the alleged extrajudicial killings of their sons by the Colombian military in 2008. My concerns about impunity, including the specific case of the Mothers of Soacha, have been raised both bilaterally with the Colombian authorities and by the EU. The Colombian Ambassador to Ireland has agreed to bring these concerns to the...

Written Answers — State Bodies: State Bodies (8 Dec 2010)

Micheál Martin: There are no State Agencies operating under the auspices of my Department. However, there are four bodies operating under the aegis of my Department - the Development Education Advisory Committee (DEAC); the Government Emigrant Services Advisory Committee; the Irish Aid Expert Advisory Group; and The Board of the Ireland-United States Commission for Educational Exchange (the Fulbright...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (8 Dec 2010)

Micheál Martin: No bonus payment has been made over the last 12 months to any civil servant employed in my Department. Furthermore, a long-standing scheme whereby officers retiring from the Department received a flat rate taxable award of €500 in recognition of the contribution made during their careers was discontinued in August 2010. A total of €14,500 was disbursed under that scheme to 29 retirees...

Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)

Micheál Martin: I welcome this opportunity to make my contribution to the budget debate along with my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Ryan. The key imperative facing the country is to chart a credible pathway over the coming years towards economic recovery and towards emerging from what is an unprecedented economic crisis. We have not seen the likes of this globally or in Ireland since the great crash of...

Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)

Micheál Martin: If that is the case, I suggest Fine Gael should adopt its own growth estimate.

Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)

Micheál Martin: This is a transparent process and there are many different economic models. It is not enough for people to play it both ways or for them to pencil in our growth figure, but doubt it will happen.

Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)

Micheál Martin: If Fine Gael doubts the projected growth will happen, it should put forward its growth figure based on its economic modelling and on the variety of perspectives and economic models there are and base its four year plan on that.

Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)

Micheál Martin: I have noted that the Fine Gael four year plan accepts the Government's growth targets as the basis for what it has put into its plan.

Financial Resolution No. 34: General (Resumed) (8 Dec 2010)

Micheál Martin: The competitiveness agenda is very important in terms of job creation and of ensuring we have an economy that responds to the need to increase exports. We export goods and services and we must ensure that those goods are world class in terms of quality and technology. In many instances, they represent solutions to global problems, be they related to energy, climate, businesses, agriculture...