Results 2,581-2,600 of 8,400 for speaker:Mark Daly

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Drugs Smuggling (19 Nov 2015)

Mark Daly: I thank the Minister of State. I support Senator Mooney in respect of his motion. Irish Water actually ended up-----

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Drugs Smuggling (19 Nov 2015)

Mark Daly: Irish Water ended up putting a water meter on Seán Mac Diarmada's home place. That shows how efficient Irish Water is.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Nov 2015)

Mark Daly: Everyone in the House has expressed their sympathies to the people of France on the tragic events in Paris, but the Government has said there is no increased risk of a terrorist attack in Ireland, something that is not borne out by the fact that three people from this country died fighting in Syria. The intelligence reports are that 30 people are currently fighting there and we know that the...

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Nov 2015)

Mark Daly: Hear, hear.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Business of Joint Committee (25 Nov 2015)

Mark Daly: I thank the Chairman and I will bring the matter up with the Minister as well.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Business of Joint Committee (25 Nov 2015)

Mark Daly: Yes, this pertains to Melbourne and Brisbane specifically but I note Ireland has a large number of honorary consulates in Canada, as the ambassador obviously cannot cover the entire territory and the system works very well. However, in Australia, in a place like Melbourne that has a huge Irish population, both those newly arrived and those who have been there for generations, in some...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Business of Joint Committee (25 Nov 2015)

Mark Daly: The second.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Business of Joint Committee (25 Nov 2015)

Mark Daly: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Business of Joint Committee (25 Nov 2015)

Mark Daly: Yes, absolutely.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Business of Joint Committee (25 Nov 2015)

Mark Daly: I am sure members often have been contacted by families who are bereaved and are trying to repatriate remains or about other issues that happen abroad and to be given the switchboard for the embassies in Australia or Spain while trying to get through to some of the Irish foreign affairs staff in some of these countries is, to put it mildly, quite difficult. That is the best way I could put...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Business of Joint Committee (25 Nov 2015)

Mark Daly: The duty officer-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Business of Joint Committee (25 Nov 2015)

Mark Daly: Yes, to put it mildly. In one case, it was the response, when I did get to the person in charge in the particular embassy-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Business of Joint Committee (25 Nov 2015)

Mark Daly: Eventually, in the country. Eventually, when I got through to the country and there was-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Business of Joint Committee (25 Nov 2015)

Mark Daly: I did and then I eventually-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Business of Joint Committee (25 Nov 2015)

Mark Daly: It was like getting the third secret of Fatima. Were a note to be provided to the joint committee from the Department stating what is the process, members could work from there but at present, it is ad hoc. I recall getting a response from somebody asking what did I expect that person to do about it. This was from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in respect of a bereavement.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Business of Joint Committee (25 Nov 2015)

Mark Daly: I am merely giving an example.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Business of Joint Committee (25 Nov 2015)

Mark Daly: In the case of a simple issue of getting a query answered regarding a passport in England, I asked the Irish abroad unit here to provide me with the number of somebody to whom I could talk in the embassy in England and I got the switchboard for the Irish Embassy in London, where it was a case of "press 3 for this" and "press 2 for that".

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Business of Joint Committee (25 Nov 2015)

Mark Daly: No, there was a message on the answering machine stating they were busy at present and I should ring back later. This was with the number I was given by the Irish abroad unit and that is not satisfactory. While it was not an emergency, in such cases I wish to talk to a person and not to an automated answering machine.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Business of Joint Committee (25 Nov 2015)

Mark Daly: Were the joint committee to be provided with a note on the subject, that would be fine. I will withdraw the motion.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Affairs Council: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (25 Nov 2015)

Mark Daly: I thank the Minister for clarifying the practical elements of what is involved. He explained that he asked the Secretary General of his Department to contact the other Secretaries General but could we get a note on how that will be implemented practically? Will we receive a list of goods from his Department or the appropriate Department which will outline the goods that should be labelled?...