Results 241-260 of 1,094 for in 'Written Answers' speaker:Colm Brophy

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (24 Nov 2020)

Colm Brophy: The total amount of Ireland’s overseas development aid increased from €647.51 million in 2015 to €869.87 million in 2019. Information on the recipients of this ODA, and the channels through which ODA is delivered, can be found in the annual reports from Irish Aid. A link to the report can be found at: In 2018, 45% of Ireland’s funding to multilateral...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (24 Nov 2020)

Colm Brophy: Ireland’s development co-operation programme recognises that international trade can play a major role in the promotion of economic development and the alleviation of poverty. The World Trade Organisation-led Aid for Trade initiative seeks to mobilise resources to address the trade-related constraints identified by developing and least developed countries. Aid for Trade programmes are...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (24 Nov 2020)

Colm Brophy: In 2019, Ireland provided a total of €869.87 million in official overseas development assistance. Of this, €512.44 million (or 58.9%) was bilateral aid, and €357.44 million (or 41.1%) was multilateral aid. Both bilateral and multilateral channels play important and complementary roles in ensuring that Ireland’s ODA is directed to where it is needed most and in...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights (24 Nov 2020)

Colm Brophy: Ireland works with our EU partners to provide needs-based humanitarian assistance to the people affected by man-made and natural disasters, with particular attention to the most vulnerable victims. Aid is channelled impartially to the affected populations, regardless of their race, ethnic group, religion, gender, age, nationality or political affiliation. The European Commission’s...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Policy (24 Nov 2020)

Colm Brophy: Ireland strongly condemns all acts of violence and terror perpetrated by Boko Haram and Al Shabaab. Ireland supports the EU, UN and other international efforts to reduce the influence of Boko Haram and Al Shabaab and to prevent their attacks, especially against civilians. Ireland continues to monitor the activities of these groups and to assist populations affected by their actions. The UN is...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Policy (24 Nov 2020)

Colm Brophy: Although the Horn of Africa has seen some positive developments in recent years, internal conflict, weak governance and historically strained relations between neighbours persist. Fragile political transitions and peace processes are taking place against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is affecting the entire region politically, economically and socially and adding to the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights (24 Nov 2020)

Colm Brophy: We know from many examples that rates of violence against women and girls rise significantly during conflict and crisis. Ireland has stayed the course and continued funding protection in protracted crises. Some of these have seen women and children trapped in limbo in camps for decades, as in the case of Somali refugee camps in northern Kenya. Protection is more important than ever before....

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (24 Nov 2020)

Colm Brophy: Access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation is a precondition for success in the fight against poverty, hunger, child deaths and gender inequality, and has taken on a renewed importance since COVID-19 emerged. Water system management is critical to establishing sustainable food systems, and Ireland will work to ensure that this is discussed at next year's Food Systems Summit. The...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights (24 Nov 2020)

Colm Brophy: Ireland is a long-standing advocate for these issues, including at the EU and the UN. For example, in 2016, Ireland co-facilitated the UN Summit on Refugees and Migrants. This Summit agreed the New York Declaration, which led to the Global Compact for Refugees and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. In October, Minister Coveney addressed the Executive Committee of...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Presidential Elections (25 Nov 2020)

Colm Brophy: The Government is committed to holding a referendum on extending the franchise at Presidential elections to Irish citizens living outside the State. We have restored the Thirty-Ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Presidential Elections) Bill to the Dáil Order Paper. The date for the holding of the referendum will be decided once the legislation has been approved by the Oireachtas.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (25 Nov 2020)

Colm Brophy: I propose to take Questions Nos. 91 to 93, inclusive, together. I am deeply concerned by the recent outbreak of armed conflict between the Federal Government of Ethiopia and the regional authorities in Tigray and by reports of atrocities and targeting of ethnic groups. There are credible allegations of mass casualties, including civilian casualties, and of human rights abuses. There is a...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (26 Nov 2020)

Colm Brophy: Ireland has consistently called for a cessation of hostilities and we welcome the agreement reached by Armenia and Azerbaijan to end the military conflict in and around Nagorno Karabakh. We remain deeply concerned for the humanitarian situation in the region, where hostilities have had a devastating impact on local civilian populations. Ensuring access for humanitarian organisations must be a...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (26 Nov 2020)

Colm Brophy: I propose to take Questions Nos. 19 and 25 together. I am deeply concerned by the recent outbreak of armed conflict between the Federal Government of Ethiopia and the regional authorities in Tigray and by reports of atrocities and targeting of ethnic groups. There are credible allegations of mass casualties, including civilian casualties, and of human rights abuses. There is a grave risk...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Emigrant Support Services (26 Nov 2020)

Colm Brophy: The Emigrant Support Programme (ESP) provides funding to non-profit organisations and projects to support our most vulnerable emigrants overseas, to strengthen Irish communities abroad and to facilitate the development of closer and more strategic links between Ireland and the global Irish. The budget allocation for the programme in 2020 is €12.595 million and is a demonstration of the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (26 Nov 2020)

Colm Brophy: South Sudan continues to endure an ongoing crisis, in large part the consequence of civil war. Since the outbreak of conflict in 2013, almost 400,000 people have died and more than 7.5 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance out of an estimated population of 12 million. This has been compounded by the impact of flooding and COVID-19. In 2018, President Salva Kiir signed a...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (26 Nov 2020)

Colm Brophy: All countries have been affected by COVID-19, with low-income countries particularly impacted by the need to deal with multiple challenges simultaneously. Ireland, in responding to the global impact of the pandemic, has prioritised use of the international development programme to reduce the incidence of the virus and mitigate its secondary impacts. This is line with Ireland’s...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (26 Nov 2020)

Colm Brophy: The conflict which began in 2015 is the principal cause of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, impacting on its capacity to address other serious problems such as flooding, cholera and COVID 19. Along with the UN and the EU, Ireland believes that the only way to bring about a long-term sustainable improvement in Yemen is through a negotiated end to the conflict. The UN’s repeated recent...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (26 Nov 2020)

Colm Brophy: Development co-operation needs to be people-centric and respond to national priorities. Promoting national ownership is one of the key principles of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. Ownership is the best strategy to guarantee that development investments succeed, and has the best opportunity of reaching the furthest behind first. Ireland’s eleven Embassies in Sub...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Election Monitoring Missions (26 Nov 2020)

Colm Brophy: I propose to take Questions Nos. 255 and 256 together. I refer the Deputy to the response to Parliamentary Question No. 113 of 11 November, as well as in the Information Note on the Overseas Election Observation Roster prepared for the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade (JCFATD), where these issues have been comprehensively addressed and which is attached to this response, and,...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights (1 Dec 2020)

Colm Brophy: Ireland is strongly committed to promotion and protection of human rights, including the right to peaceful demonstration. The #EndSARS protests in Nigeria, which took place in a number of cities including Abuja and Lagos, were in reaction to allegations of excessive use of force and other abuses committed by a unit of the Nigerian police, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) police unit....