Results 61-80 of 4,792 for speaker:Neale Richmond

Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Business of Joint Committee (27 May 2025)

Neale Richmond: Rather than focus on the macro issues that the Deputy rightly referred to, I will focus on what work we are actually doing. I chair an interdepartmental committee where we bring together stakeholders from all Departments to address the very issues the Deputy raised. He mentioned motor insurance. One of the last responsibilities I had when I was in the Department of Finance was to launch a...

Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Business of Joint Committee (27 May 2025)

Neale Richmond: I thank the Chair for the opportunity and for the level of engagement. This should be a committee in which there is great space for cross-party agreement, and we can embrace a collective drive. I sensed that this afternoon. I wish to address a couple of the points raised in the second round. Some of them are a bit more general. Deputy Brennan raised one clear issue related to Senator...

Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Business of Joint Committee (27 May 2025)

Neale Richmond: I thank the Cathaoirleach. I will address each of these points very briefly and there will be supplementary questions. When it comes to the absolute horrors unfolding in Gaza, the priority has to be restoring humanitarian corridors and getting real levels of humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza, who are living in conditions that, to be honest, none of us can possibly imagine, even those...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Middle East (27 May 2025)

Neale Richmond: The Ireland Fellows Programme (IFP) was established in 1974 and is an important element of the Irish Aid programme managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It enables early to mid-career professionals with leadership potential, from developing countries, to benefit from a quality education in Ireland. The programme contributes to capacity building by offering selected students...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Middle East (27 May 2025)

Neale Richmond: The Ireland Fellows Programme (IFP) was established in 1974 and is an important element of the Irish Aid programme managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It enables early to mid-career professionals with leadership potential, from developing countries, to benefit from a quality education in Ireland. The programme contributes to capacity building by offering selected students...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Election Monitoring Missions (27 May 2025)

Neale Richmond: The Department of Foreign Affairs maintains and administers a voluntary roster of suitably skilled and vetted individuals who are available to participate at short notice in election observation missions organised by the European Union (EU) and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Ireland's current five-year international Election Observation Roster was established...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Middle East (27 May 2025)

Neale Richmond: The Government remains extremely concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. A small amount of aid has been permitted to enter in recent days, but it is wholly inadequate to meet the growing scale of humanitarian need. The obstruction of life-saving aid by Israel is a violation of its international obligations. Israel must fulfil its obligations under international humanitarian law...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Middle East (20 May 2025)

Neale Richmond: As the United Nations reported last week all of Gaza's population of over 2 million people face the risk of famine; one in five face possible starvation. Israel’s continuing blockade of humanitarian and commercial supplies for Gaza is rapidly deepening the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The obstruction of life-saving aid by Israel is a violation of its international obligations and it...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Humanitarian Aid (15 May 2025)

Neale Richmond: The European Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) is the EU’s crisis response mechanism, which facilitates a coordinated response from EU Member States and 10 participating states to emergencies inside and outside the EU. The Mechanism is activated when a country affected by a crisis requests assistance through the UCPM. More rarely, a UN agency will request assistance for a crisis...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (15 May 2025)

Neale Richmond: Every year, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade publishes an Annual Report on Ireland's Official Development Assistance (ODA), which provides detailed breakdowns of the distribution of aid, including the amounts given to developing countries around the world, and the amounts allocated for different thematic priorities and to different partners. The latest year for which full...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Irish Communities Abroad (14 May 2025)

Neale Richmond: The Government is committed to deepening our ties with Irish communities overseas and to ensuring that the welfare of the Irish abroad remains at the heart of our diaspora engagement. Central to our approach is the Emigrant Support Programme (ESP), which provides grants to organisations in the voluntary sector who work with our most vulnerable citizens overseas. The Programme also...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (13 May 2025)

Neale Richmond: The Government is firmly committed to Ireland’s international development assistance programme and its overriding priority, to reach the furthest behind first. The latest year for which full statistical detail of our Official Development Assistance (ODA) is available is 2023. Detailed preliminary figures for 2024 will be available in the coming months. In 2023, the top ten recipient...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (13 May 2025)

Neale Richmond: I propose to take Questions Nos. 267, 265 and 266 together. The Government is firmly committed to Ireland’s international development assistance programme and its overriding priority, to reach the furthest behind first. The budget for Vote 27 of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to manage the Irish Aid programme in 2025 is €810.3 million, the highlest level ever. ...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Middle East (13 May 2025)

Neale Richmond: On 2 March the Israeli authorities announced a halt to humanitarian aid entering Gaza. No humanitarian assistance has been allowed in since then. Aid provided by Ireland is impeded by the same restrictions affecting all humanitarian aid to Gaza. Ireland has two consignments of humanitarian aid in Amman, Jordan, awaiting entry to Gaza. They include shelter items for the International...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (13 May 2025)

Neale Richmond: Two years of conflict in Sudan have resulted in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. The Government is gravely concerned by the impact of the conflict on civilians. Widespread violence continues, including reports of atrocities and violations of international humanitarian law. Over 15 million people have been forced to flee their homes and over 24 million people are in acute food insecurity,...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (7 May 2025)

Neale Richmond: Two years of conflict in Sudan have resulted in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Over 15 million people have been forced to flee their homes and over 24 million people are in acute food insecurity, with some facing famine. Working with like-minded EU member states, Ireland has supported strong EU messaging on Sudan, emphasising the need for a ceasefire, humanitarian access, protection...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Climate Change Policy (7 May 2025)

Neale Richmond: International climate finance is a key priority for the Government and for Ireland’s foreign policy. The Government has made significant progress in scaling up Ireland's international climate finance in recent years. Ireland’s International Climate Finance Roadmap sets out how we will deliver on the target of providing at least €225 million annually in climate finance...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Diplomatic Representation (1 May 2025)

Neale Richmond: Two years of conflict in Sudan have resulted in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Over 15 million people have been forced to flee their homes and over 24 million people are in acute food insecurity, with some facing famine. Working with like-minded European Union member states, Ireland has supported strong EU messaging on Sudan, emphasising the need for a ceasefire, humanitarian access,...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Humanitarian Aid (29 Apr 2025)

Neale Richmond: I propose to take Questions Nos. 186 and 199 together. Myanmar has suffered devastating humanitarian and human rights crises for too long. Before the earthquake on 28 March, the UN's 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for Myanmar had received less than 7% percent of the annual funding needed to provide life-saving assistance to the 5.3 million people in the most severe need,...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Policy (29 Apr 2025)

Neale Richmond: I propose to take Questions Nos. 200 and 207 together. Development cooperation is integral to Ireland’s foreign policy. The Government's priorities are set out in A Better World, the whole of government policy for international development. It recognises that access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care is fundamental to transforming women's health outcomes and to...