Results 7,601-7,620 of 50,136 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Passport Services (15 Jun 2023)

Micheál Martin: Deputy Carthy should consult Deputy Ó Laoghaire on that point.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Passport Services (15 Jun 2023)

Micheál Martin: Or Deputy Gould.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Passport Services (15 Jun 2023)

Micheál Martin: The Department has made clear that a business case does not exist right now. We have had queries all morning with people wanting us to improve the service to make it faster and more efficient. There are choices in how we deploy staff. There has been a very significant push on innovation and in making the service more streamlined in respect of the birth certificate, for example. A total of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Middle East (15 Jun 2023)

Micheál Martin: The programme for Government states the Government will "[h]onour our commitment to recognise the State of Palestine as part of a lasting settlement of the conflict, or in advance of that, when we believe doing so will progress efforts to reach a two-state solution or protect the integrity of Palestinian territory". I have emphasised on several occasions that the timing and context of any...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Passport Services (15 Jun 2023)

Micheál Martin: Yes, that is my understanding but I will come back to the Deputy on that. There is a question later. On the specific case, the Deputy acknowledged the photograph was a problem. We are always looking at ways to try to make it more efficient and effective through new technologies and to reduce the room for human error and the number of original documents required. We all get phone calls...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Ministerial Engagements (15 Jun 2023)

Micheál Martin: I was hoping to go to Israel and the Middle East more generally last week but particular people in certain areas were not available so we have postponed that visit to a later date in the next number of months. I want to visit the Middle East more generally to meet my Israeli counterpart and others in the region to discuss these issues. The ongoing demolition and seizure of Palestinian...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Ministerial Engagements (15 Jun 2023)

Micheál Martin: I do not accept the Deputy's general criticism of the Irish Government's position. Globally, the Irish Government would be seen as one of the stronger contributors to this debate. It would be considered to consistently take a very principled approach on this matter. When we say "action", we have to specify first of all the effectiveness of further actions. We want to work with other...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Ministerial Engagements (15 Jun 2023)

Micheál Martin: As I said, we were due to go to the area last week but that was not possible. Meeting people face to face is far more effective. On the broader question, we do not sit idly by. There are very real limitations in terms of impact and effectiveness to what a country like Ireland can do on its own. We were not idle on this in respect of our position on the Security Council. That was...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Passport Services (15 Jun 2023)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 63 together. The passport service's recent achievements, which I have outlined in response to earlier questions, are thanks to the operational and staffing plans my Department has put in place for 2023, as well as the efficiencies allowed for through Passport Online. There are currently 834 staff in the passport service. The Department has run...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Passport Services (15 Jun 2023)

Micheál Martin: I appreciate the Deputy's comments. A number of Deputies have commented on the helpfulness of the staff of the Department of Foreign Affairs and in the Passport Office, in particular. I take the Deputy's point that not everybody can go online but people should seek assistance to do so, where possible, because it is a very effective and much faster service. I will take away the Deputy's...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Passport Services (15 Jun 2023)

Micheál Martin: We have already taken action in respect of MLAs. They now have the same access as the Members of this House.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Passport Services (15 Jun 2023)

Micheál Martin: It is done.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Passport Services (15 Jun 2023)

Micheál Martin: Elected representatives on the island are provided for. I have also brought MEPs into the fold in respect of access to the same services available to Members of these Houses.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Passport Services (15 Jun 2023)

Micheál Martin: I cannot comment on specific cases but I am being told it does not go to the back of the queue. We constantly recruit staff. We have had 18 competitions since 2021 to address staffing needs in the passport service and 200 temporary clerical officers have been assigned to that service since January 2023, in the context of further measures. I will look at that case to see if it illustrates a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Passport Services (15 Jun 2023)

Micheál Martin: I met with officials yesterday in relation to the Passport Service. No one identified that issue with the tracker but I will revert and communicate what the Deputy said. Our Department would welcome the digitisation of the records maintained by An Garda Síochána when witnessing applications. Significant improvements have been made. The birth certificate has seen a huge...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Official Engagements (15 Jun 2023)

Micheál Martin: I meet with British Government representatives on a regular basis bilaterally, in multilateral fora and at the British-Irish Council, BIC, and British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, BIIGC. I attended the last BIC in Blackpool while Taoiseach and will join the current Taoiseach in Jersey for the 39th BIC summit today and tomorrow. I will meet at the summit with representatives of the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Official Engagements (15 Jun 2023)

Micheál Martin: The United Kingdom Government published an extensive list of amendments to the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill last week. We have opposed the Bill from the outset. It is a unilateral action and I have been consistent in this House in calling out unilateral actions by the British Government in respect of issues under the Good Friday Agreement. I believe the most...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Official Engagements (15 Jun 2023)

Micheál Martin: I do, and we have consistently raised the Dublin and Monaghan bombings and the need for full disclosure and release of documents pertaining to that atrocity. I too was at the remembrance ceremony and commemoration. I pay tribute to Justice for the Forgotten for the consistent manner in which it has commemorated those who lost their lives. Its representatives remember those people but also...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (15 Jun 2023)

Micheál Martin: I share the Deputy's revulsion at what has happened. Thirty-five people were wounded, including 20 by live bullets. Two people reportedly suffered serious abdominal wounds, while another was hit in the head by a rubber-coated metal bullet. The family apartment was on the first floor of a four-storey building. Its destruction has displaced the parents and four sisters of the accused. This...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Middle East (15 Jun 2023)

Micheál Martin: The most effective approach will have to be a collective one within the European Union. There is no consensus across Europe in respect of this issue. There is consensus regarding the violation of international law and the expansion of settlements, but how one puts flesh on the bones of newer policy initiatives is more challenging and difficult. As I said, Ireland, along with other...