Results 2,381-2,400 of 5,034 for speaker:Billy Timmins
- Cluster Munitions and Anti-Personnel Mines Bill 2008: Second Stage. (4 Nov 2008)
Billy Timmins: I welcome the Bill. Members will remember that earlier this year I introduced a Private Members' Bill on cluster munitions. I regret that the Minister's predecessor was not magnanimous enough to accept the Bill. It was no different from this Bill, except that it went a little further. I cannot understand why the Minister refused to accept it. I welcome that the Title of the Bill has been...
- Human Rights Abuses. (4 Nov 2008)
Billy Timmins: I thank the Ceann Comhairle for affording me time to speak on this issue. The issue of extraordinary rendition has been very contentious and controversial here in the past two to three years. The Irish Human Rights Commission, under the presidency of former Senator Maurice Manning, produced a very detailed report and representatives of the commission appeared before the Joint Committee on...
- Written Answers — Human Rights Issues: Human Rights Issues (4 Nov 2008)
Billy Timmins: Question 339: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has received correspondence from a group (details supplied); if he has had contact with the Chinese authorities on the matter; if not, if he will do so; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38515/08]
- Written Answers — Foreign Conflicts: Foreign Conflicts (4 Nov 2008)
Billy Timmins: Question 340: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the situation in Zimbabwe; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38516/08]
- Written Answers — Foreign Conflicts: Foreign Conflicts (4 Nov 2008)
Billy Timmins: Question 341: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the situation in Rwanda; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38517/08]
- Economic Competitiveness. (5 Nov 2008)
Billy Timmins: Question 96: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the role he plays in securing foreign direct investment from the USA; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38566/08]
- Economic Competitiveness. (5 Nov 2008)
Billy Timmins: The Minister will know that approximately 152,000 people are employed directly in foreign companies that invest here and that approximately 300,000 are indirectly so employed. Does he know what percentage of jobs created by foreign direct investment comes from the United States? He may not have the exact figure today but my understanding is that approximately 40% of all jobs created by...
- Economic Competitiveness. (5 Nov 2008)
Billy Timmins: I am satisfied that the Minister is mindful and am glad to know that he will put a block in the first hurdle of President Obama's new policies. Former President Clinton also intimated a similar policy when he came to office in the early 1990s. Is the Minister familiar with the steps we took, if any, at the time, or how far such a policy evolved during that period?
- Economic Competitiveness. (5 Nov 2008)
Billy Timmins: I cannot over-emphasise how important it is that we ensure our economic interest is protected. The Minister might also supply me with figures at a later time in respect of the investment that Irish companies might have in the United States. Perhaps he might also give a similar total figure for the EU.
- Economic Competitiveness. (5 Nov 2008)
Billy Timmins: I know it is probably a little bit outside the Minister's remit but he constantly informs me using his previous experience as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and therefore I believe the Leas-Cheann Comhairle will allow me the latitude.
- Economic Competitiveness. (5 Nov 2008)
Billy Timmins: I wondered about the previous roleââ
- Foreign Conflicts. (5 Nov 2008)
Billy Timmins: Question 98: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo; the steps Ireland can take to assist in the situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38568/08]
- Foreign Conflicts. (5 Nov 2008)
Billy Timmins: The Fine Gael Party supports any humanitarian or other measures and assistance the European Union or Government can provide. The Minister indicated that MONUC, which has 17,000 troops and costs â¬1 billion, is the largest UN peacekeeping operation. I listened to Deputy Michael D. Higgins comments on the failure of the current financial model and the role of the United Nations. Does the...
- Foreign Conflicts. (5 Nov 2008)
Billy Timmins: I realise the EU does not have an infinite well of human resources. However, will the Minister acknowledge that Pakistan, with 3,500 troops, cannot secure its own border; India, with 4,300 troops, is in a nuclear stand-off with Pakistan; South Africa, which faces difficulties with refugees coming in from Zimbabwe, is providing 1,000 troops? The EU should have a role. When it was...
- European Neighbourhood Policy. (5 Nov 2008)
Billy Timmins: Have the countries of central or eastern Europe shared with the Minister their views of the impact of our "No" vote to the Lisbon treaty on their aspirations to join the EU? Have the Russian authorities ever sought to lobby the Minister to recognise South Ossetia, whether directly or through the European Union?
- European Neighbourhood Policy. (5 Nov 2008)
Billy Timmins: While Kosovo was seeking recognition, its representatives were knocking on the door of the Minister's predecessor.
- European Neighbourhood Policy. (5 Nov 2008)
Billy Timmins: Are the Russians exerting pressure?
- Overseas Development Aid. (5 Nov 2008)
Billy Timmins: I commend the Minister on maintaining funding for UNRWA at â¬11.4 million. Fine Gael would be supportive of preventing this figure from being reduced as a result of the contracting economy.
- Overseas Development Aid. (5 Nov 2008)
Billy Timmins: As a bird of passage, I am not sure if I am a dove or a hawk â I am definitely a dove. The term "birds of passage" used by the Minister is a nice one. It must come from the Mardyke.
- Overseas Development Aid. (5 Nov 2008)
Billy Timmins: Is the Minister confident that we can achieve the millennium development goals within the timeframe laid down? I mean "we" in the sense of the universal we.