Results 2,521-2,540 of 12,318 for speaker:Paul Murphy

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Human Rights (21 Sep 2017)

Paul Murphy: I thank the Minister of State for her response and for the Government's statement a few weeks ago. To describe what is happening as excessive violence by the Myanmar state is a significant understatement. What is happening appears to be ethnic cleansing carried out by the Myanmar military in collusion with Buddhist chauvinist mobs. The consequences are very shocking. More than 400,000...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Human Rights (21 Sep 2017)

Paul Murphy: The notion that slow and steady progress is being made towards democracy in what was Burma is contradicted by what is happening to the Rohingya people. They are a severely oppressed ethnic minority and they are not recognised as such, unlike 135 recognised ethnic groups in Myanmar. They have been denied citizenship under the 1982 law. The government presents them as having come from...

Other Questions: Catalan Referendum (21 Sep 2017)

Paul Murphy: 6. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has received reports from the embassy and the consulate in Barcelona regarding the upcoming referendum on Catalan independence; if he has raised this issue with the Spanish authorities or at a European Union level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39779/17]

Other Questions: Catalan Referendum (21 Sep 2017)

Paul Murphy: Will the Government condemn what can only be described as Francoist repression on the part of the Spanish state against the people of Catalonia where there has been an effective occupation by the Spanish state police with the arrest of upwards of 20 government officials, the seizure of ballot boxes, ballot papers and more than 100,000 elections posters, the opening of post and the effective...

Other Questions: Catalan Referendum (21 Sep 2017)

Paul Murphy: It is precisely democratic institutions that are under threat from the Spanish Government. It is the democratically elected regional government of Catalonia that has called the referendum which is a democratic act. In Catalonia the vast majority of people from all backgrounds - measured at over 80% in a recent opinion poll - support the calling of the referendum. That is unlike the example...

Other Questions: Catalan Referendum (21 Sep 2017)

Paul Murphy: I am not asking the Minister to take a position on the referendum or the Irish Government to call for a "Yes" or "No" vote. I am calling on it to recognise that the people have the right to decide and that the referendum should go ahead without horrific repression by the Spanish state that is seeking to shut it down. There are coercive elements in the Spanish state constitution such as...

Other Questions: Human Rights (21 Sep 2017)

Paul Murphy: 12. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will report on representations that he has made to secure the release of a person (details supplied) who is awaiting a verdict in their trial in Egypt; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39778/17]

Other Questions: Human Rights (21 Sep 2017)

Paul Murphy: Justice delayed is justice denied which is the case for Ibrahim Halawa. It is, however, fair to say that many people in this country and around the world were delighted that his campaign was vindicated, he was found not guilty earlier this week. Unfortunately, of the 500 or so involved with him in the mass trial, up to 300 were jailed for varying lengths of time. My question is to know...

Other Questions: Human Rights (21 Sep 2017)

Paul Murphy: The conditions in which we saw Ibrahim in prison were harrowing for anyone to face, let alone a young man who was not involved in anything. He only participated in a protest. For him to withstand that is impressive and a testament to him. It should serve to raise interest in Irish society on repression and the oppression that exists in Egypt under el-Sisi and to raise a wider interest in...

Topical Issue Debate: Middle East Issues (21 Sep 2017)

Paul Murphy: We have already discussed this matter to some degree during Question Time. We know that on Saturday, 9 September, four Irish citizens, Elaine Daly, Fidelma Bonass, Joan Nolan and Stephen McCloskey, were deported from Tel Aviv in Israel. They were deported because they were organising and travelling with a delegation of 31 people, primarily Irish citizens, on an awareness-raising visit to...

Topical Issue Debate: Middle East Issues (21 Sep 2017)

Paul Murphy: I thank the Minister of State. I welcome the fact the Government, in particular, has said it is difficult to make any other conclusion other than that the exclusion of these persons contributes to efforts to suppress scrutiny and criticism of Israeli policies in the West Bank. That is completely accurate and is, unfortunately, precisely what is happening. Will the Minister of State give us...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Policy (21 Sep 2017)

Paul Murphy: 34. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the disqualification of four elected representatives from the Legislative Council in Hong Kong (details supplied); if he has made representations to the Chinese authorities regarding the case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39780/17]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Bank of Ireland (21 Sep 2017)

Paul Murphy: I thank the witnesses for the presentation. What was the thinking behind the hashtag advert which went, "Orla and her boyfriend stopped renting and moved back with their parents to save the deposit for their 1st home"?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Bank of Ireland (21 Sep 2017)

Paul Murphy: Would Mr. McLoughlin accept that the story the bank was telling, as described by Francis Doherty of the Peter McVerry Trust, that it pointed to a strategy by the banks to entice people to borrow as much as possible to buy houses that are as unaffordable as possible?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Bank of Ireland (21 Sep 2017)

Paul Murphy: Clearly, the narrative that the story is a part of is an expression of a part of the housing crisis in that people are unable to rent, are forced back to live with their families or parents in order to be able to afford to go on and rent or to get a mortgage. Does Mr. McLoughlin accept that it was ill-advised?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Bank of Ireland (21 Sep 2017)

Paul Murphy: I am not sure people like that one. It is fair to say that it did not go down well.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Bank of Ireland (21 Sep 2017)

Paul Murphy: It was viewed as reflecting an attitude taken by the banks and establishment generally of blaming young people or pushing them to take the drastic step of not living independently in order that they would be able to afford a home. That is how it was perceived by people.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Bank of Ireland (21 Sep 2017)

Paul Murphy: The flip side of that story is the degree to which homes are unaffordable. The witness stated the average income to price ratio for a first-time buyer shown in the questionnaire was 2.88. With the average house price in Dublin currently slightly more than €400,000, this means the combined income of two people seeking to buy a house would be €140,000. Obviously, this is not a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Bank of Ireland (21 Sep 2017)

Paul Murphy: On the buy-to-let market, the response to Question 8 indicates there were 234 assisted voluntary sales and surrenders of buy-to-let properties. Do the witnesses have figures on the number of these sales which resulted in a tenant being evicted to achieve vacant possession?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Banking Sector in Ireland: Bank of Ireland (21 Sep 2017)

Paul Murphy: Mr. Mason referred to receivers. In answer to Question 10, the bank indicated that, as of 30 June 2017, a fixed charge receiver had been appointed or approved to 819 properties. If one can adds the figure of 819 to the figure of 234 voluntary sales or surrenders, one arrives at a figure of more than 1,000 properties.