Results 5,521-5,540 of 50,136 for speaker:Micheál Martin

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)

Micheál Martin: I am speaking out loud here. We need to be very careful that one does not confuse the mission.

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)

Micheál Martin: I am not referring to Deputy Carthy here but more generally. Our diplomatic service works well in the way it is modelled. In North America, it works superbly well. Long-established links with the Hill, with both sides of the aisle, both Senators and Congress people, are very good. I am not a fan of sending political envoys to override that because one asks who speaks for Ireland then....

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)

Micheál Martin: In regard to the EU, there was a peace process in Bogotá and a significant issue there. In our peace process, external help was very important. We had US envoys. For decommissioning, we had Martti Ahtisaari and Cyril Ramaphosa, and George Mitchell was an envoy who essentially kept the oil flowing in the talks process. It is that kind of thing which I get, but one does not want a...

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)

Micheál Martin: Again, we will look at any kind of worthwhile venture which comes forward. We support organisations but we do not supplant existing State funding for schools or whatever. Obviously, the bulk funding for a school would come, presumably, from the local government there or the education department in that area. We could, of course, then assess the situation with regard to any additional...

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)

Micheál Martin: Clearly it has had an impact on the Deputy.

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)

Micheál Martin: There you are now.

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)

Micheál Martin: I appreciate the points the Deputy has made. The figure of 88,000 this year was very similar to last year due to an intensive advertisement campaign we had before Christmas. We wanted to get people ready, alert and aware so that if they are planning on going on holidays, they should start working now on their passport. That has borne fruit in terms of the surge in passport applications we...

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)

Micheál Martin: People ring me in Cork and say, "I'll drive to Dublin. I'll be up at 6 in the morning." They do that because someone has made a mistake or they took out the passport and found it is one or two days beyond the expiry date. We will keep looking at what the Deputy is raising on the urgent cases. I am not clear how we might create that category. However, we will continue to examine 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)

Micheál Martin: The Chair raised a number of points. I was alerted by my officials about his enduring interest in securing a consulate in Perth. I appreciate his view on that. We will keep it under review and there will be due diligence. I take his point that eight months is a long time for foreign birth registration numbers, but it is a complex process because it involves a number of generations and...

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)

Micheál Martin: -----military intervention in any war situation. So what we do is non-lethal aid, which is needed. Human resources are vitally needed in a war effort. The Irish Army has donated anti-mining or de-mining equipment to Ukraine.

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)

Micheál Martin: Yes, flails. So do we purchase them to donate? One of the issues for Ukraine is the industry is at saturation point in terms of provision of weaponry and so on. There is no point in everyone going in and purchasing to give. They should be in the position to purchase whatever is coming off the manufacturing lines. But we have helped in training. De-mining will be, and is, the biggest...

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)

Micheál Martin: What are they? What missiles?

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)

Micheál Martin: That is very fair. On de-mining, we are saying to the European Union on the EPF that de-mining is okay and that could involve equipment as well. For anything that de-mines a zone we have no issue and we train Ukrainian soldiers to de-mine. I do not have an issue with that but I take the Deputy's point. To be frank, I will have to come back to him on the precise mechanisms to give effect to...

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)

Micheál Martin: It is a very fair point that needs more debate in the Department and in the Dáil. When I was Germany, I had discussions with a think tank and we had no idea of the vulnerability Germans felt when Russia invaded Ukraine. We talk about the existential crisis in the Baltic states and other countries but many Germans felt it was a very significant watershed for them, hence the massive...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Middle East (31 Jan 2024)

Micheál Martin: I am deeply concerned by the humanitarian situation in Gaza. 100% of people in Gaza are estimated to be acutely food insecure, while a quarter of its population faces catastrophic hunger and starvation. I have no doubt that the shocking situation on the ground also adversely affects the welfare of animals. I have consistently underlined that we urgently need a massive and sustained...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (31 Jan 2024)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 9 together. With regard to the specific applications about which the Deputies have enquired, these applications are within the current turnaround times and have not yet reached their issue-by date.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Oideachas trí Ghaeilge (31 Jan 2024)

Micheál Martin: I Straitéis Diaspóra na hÉireann 2020-2025 áirítear tiomantas leathan chun tacú le léiriú cultúrtha i measc ár ndiaspóra. Maidir leis an nGaeilge go sonrach, tá an Rialtas tiomanta sa straitéis do chur chun cinn agus do mhúineadh na Gaeilge thar lear. Tá maoiniú ar fáil ó Chlár Tacaíochta...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Birth Registration (31 Jan 2024)

Micheál Martin: My Department is responsible for processing Foreign Birth Registration (FBR) applications for people who are born abroad and claim Irish citizenship through a grandparent born in Ireland or through a parent who has claimed citizenship also through FBR or Naturalisation. Foreign Birth Registration, by its nature, is a detailed and complex process, often involving official documentation...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Naval Service (31 Jan 2024)

Micheál Martin: The decision to decommission and dispose of LÉ Eithne in July 2022 was made having regard to the age and condition of the vessel and the resourcing and maintenance implications of retaining the vessel. A number of organisations, including Dublin Port and the local authorities in Cork and Limerick, indicated their interest in taking LÉ Eithne as a museum piece / tourist...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (31 Jan 2024)

Micheál Martin: The military authorities have advised that, as at 31 December 2023, the strength of the Permanent Defence Force stood at 7,550 personnel. I have previously acknowledged the current staffing difficulties in the Defence Forces and, to counter these, there are a number of recruitment and retention initiatives currently underway. These include ongoing general service and direct entry...