Results 2,001-2,020 of 2,792 for speaker:Colm Brophy

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Lobbying Reform (13 Jul 2022)

Colm Brophy: I thank the Deputies for raising this matter. I am answering on behalf of the Minister for Transport. Regarding current media reports on Uber, following a request from the company, officials from the then Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport met Uber representatives in mid-December 2015 to discuss Uber's proposal to undertake a Limerick pilot cab hailing scheme. The proposal involved...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Lobbying Reform (13 Jul 2022)

Colm Brophy: To make it absolutely clear, I am answering as a Minister of State on behalf of the Minister for Transport. Ireland's SPSV regulatory framework requires that all drivers and vehicles be licensed as a means of protecting the consumer and helping to ensure public safety. Furthermore, no special regulations have been developed to govern the carriage of passengers by passenger cars that are not...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Health Promotion (12 Jul 2022)

Colm Brophy: Ireland’s international development programme has had a long-standing focus on improving the quality and availability of health services, particularly maternal and child health. A Better World, Ireland’s policy for international development, commits to a new initiative on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), building on our partnerships in health and HIV and AIDS....

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Health Promotion (12 Jul 2022)

Colm Brophy: UNFPA is an important Irish Aid partner, which will receive €4 million in unearmarked core funding this year. This is an increase of €500,000 on last year's core funding to UNFPA. A further €1.5 million has been disbursed in support of UNFPA's activities in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. No specific funding for the UNFPA Supplies Programme is proposed.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (12 Jul 2022)

Colm Brophy: The Programme for Government has committed to making incremental, sustainable progress towards achieving the UN target of spending 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) on ODA by 2030. In Budget 2022, €1.044 billion was allocated to Official Development Assistance (ODA), the highest ever amount allocated by any Government. This is an increase of €176 million on the 2021 allocation...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (13 Jul 2022)

Colm Brophy: The Department of Foreign Affairs publishes a report on Ireland's Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme each year. The report includes statistical information on programme expenditure in a series of annexes. These show the distribution of aid, including the amounts allocated to our priority focus areas as set out in A Better World, Ireland’s international development policy....

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (14 Jul 2022)

Colm Brophy: Ireland has consistently expressed concern at the conflict and insecurity in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) during our term to date. Unfortunately, recent months have seen an increase in insecurity and violence in eastern DRC and a worrying escalation of tensions between the DRC and Rwanda. At the most recent discussion on the DRC...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: European Union (14 Jul 2022)

Colm Brophy: Ireland is a recognised champion of international food security and global efforts to reduce hunger. In light of the deepening global food security crisis, we are actively engaged in discussions on these matters at a range of EU fora. We are particularly concerned at the situation in least developed, and import-reliant developing countries, including in the Horn of Africa. These countries are...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (14 Jul 2022)

Colm Brophy: Global food insecurity is at record levels and has worsened with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Rising global food prices have been exacerbated by the effective blockade on shipping from Ukraine's ports which has restricted access to wheat and fertilisers. The United Nation’s outlook for the coming months highlights twenty global hunger hotspots where humanitarian action is an...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Policy (14 Sep 2022)

Colm Brophy: The Horn of Africa is facing a rapidly deteriorating food security crisis, as a result of a four-season drought, protracted and new conflicts, and the global impact of the war in Ukraine. The Department of Foreign Affairs, through the Irish Aid programme, has responded over the past eighteen months with over €74 million in direct humanitarian aid to countries in the region, working...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (20 Sep 2022)

Colm Brophy: The Government is committed to achieving the UN Official Development Assistance (ODA) target of 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) by 2030, as set out in A Better World, Ireland's International Development Policy, and in the Programme for Government. For 2022, the Government allocated €1.044 billion to ODA, a 20% increase on the 2021 allocation. This is the highest ever amount...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Election Monitoring Missions (21 Sep 2022)

Colm Brophy: The Department of Foreign Affairs administers and maintains a roster of suitably skilled volunteers, who are available to participate in international election observation missions organised by the European Union (EU) and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). These election observation missions play an important role in the promotion of democracy, human rights and...

Financial Resolutions 2022 - Financial Resolution No. 6: General (Resumed) (29 Sep 2022)

Colm Brophy: I want to make reference, in the context of my portfolio, to the experience I had in the past month. I visited the Horn of Africa, in particular Kenya and South Sudan, and witnessed first-hand the absolute devastation that is happening there. People are at risk of famine of a scale we have not perhaps seen since the mid-1980s. People are currently dying. There were children suffering from...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (29 Sep 2022)

Colm Brophy: In Budget 2023, the Government has made provision for the largest ever allocation to Official Development Assistance:  over €1.20 billion, an increase of 17% on the 2022 allocation. The overall increase of €177 million includes €100 million for Irish Aid in the Department of Foreign Affairs. 2022 was the first time Ireland’s development assistance budget...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Election Monitoring Missions (4 Oct 2022)

Colm Brophy: Ireland's current International Election Observation Roster of 197 volunteers, which is administered by the Department of Foreign Affairs, is in effect from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2023. Roster members are available to participate at short notice in Election Observation Missions organised by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the EU. Recruitment of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Oct 2022)

Colm Brophy: He should.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (6 Oct 2022)

Colm Brophy: It is the Deputy who should stop misleading people.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Official Travel (6 Oct 2022)

Colm Brophy: Last month I visited the Horn of Africa and witnessed the severity of the humanitarian crisis devastating the region. The causes reflect interlocking global crises, of climate change, conflict, environmental degradation, unsustainable food systems, and, more recently, Covid 19, as well as rising food and fuel prices. I visited Nairobi and Turkana in Kenya, and Juba and Bentiu in South Sudan....

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (6 Oct 2022)

Colm Brophy: The situation in Tigray and in other parts of northern Ethiopia remains of grave concern. The conflict in Ethiopia has had a devastating impact on civilians, with many killed or injured, and reports of widespread human rights violations. The report published last month by the UN International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia presents further alarming details of the human...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (6 Oct 2022)

Colm Brophy: Ireland's international development programme, Irish Aid, has a strong global reputation for quality and effectiveness. This reputation was reconfirmed in the 2020 OECD Peer Review of Ireland’s Development Assistance. Also in 2020, the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), a leading global development think tank, ranked Ireland as the number one donor in delivering principled aid in...