Results 2,741-2,760 of 4,092 for speaker:Michael D Higgins
- Social Welfare Bill 2009: Second Stage (Resumed) (23 Apr 2009)
Michael D Higgins: When speaking last night, I stressed some of the detail of the impact of this Social Welfare Bill. In conclusion, I want to suggest something else which I have noticed over a long period of years in this House, namely, the reluctance of those responsible for social policy to explicitly state what are their assumptions about the people who are recipients. It is very clear from what we have...
- Overseas Development Aid. (23 Apr 2009)
Michael D Higgins: Question 2: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the way the cuts of â¬100 million on top of the 17% cut previously made will impact on the projects funded by his Department in general and in the bilateral countries in particular. [15994/09]
- Overseas Development Aid. (23 Apr 2009)
Michael D Higgins: Arising from the Minister's replies to these two priority questions, how does he square what he has said with what the Taoiseach said in response to Pope Benedict's new year message? The Taoiseach said: I welcome the commitments made in the Declaration that issued at the Doha Conference in December and note that, despite serious economic difficulties, Ireland remains on course to achieve...
- Overseas Development Aid. (23 Apr 2009)
Michael D Higgins: We had a consensus.
- Overseas Development Aid. (23 Apr 2009)
Michael D Higgins: So the target is set.
- Overseas Development Aid. (23 Apr 2009)
Michael D Higgins: It is a disproportionate cut.
- Overseas Development Aid. (23 Apr 2009)
Michael D Higgins: The OECD has given a favourable report on the Irish aid programme, which is welcome. However, one would find it strange that the only increase, an increase of 240%, in the allocations in Vote 29 is in value for money and policy reviews. When there is consensus about the value of the programme and when we have had to cut back good elements of it, why embark on value for money studies at this...
- Overseas Development Aid. (23 Apr 2009)
Michael D Higgins: That is not my argument.
- Overseas Development Aid. (23 Apr 2009)
Michael D Higgins: I think the rush to vigilance is a cover.
- Overseas Development Aid. (23 Apr 2009)
Michael D Higgins: I think the programme has been damaged by the unfounded allegations against it.
- Territorial Waters. (23 Apr 2009)
Michael D Higgins: The issue is around 25 years, since the time of Charles Haughey.
- Diplomatic Representation. (23 Apr 2009)
Michael D Higgins: And an international tribunal on war crimes.
- Diplomatic Representation. (23 Apr 2009)
Michael D Higgins: To a Palestinian state.
- Diplomatic Representation. (23 Apr 2009)
Michael D Higgins: Hear, hear. He will do better than Tony Blair.
- Human Rights Issues. (23 Apr 2009)
Michael D Higgins: I am grateful for the Minister's reply and I share the Government's concern regarding the safety of personnel. I wish to ask a number of directly-related questions. It appears to me that both the present Minister and his predecessor laid great stress on the evolution of thinking at the United Nations, particularly in respect of the duty to protect. The duty to protect was a key block in...
- Human Rights Issues. (23 Apr 2009)
Michael D Higgins: The Minister's response has illustrated the point that when developing this concept, Kofi Annan developed a parallel notion of devolving certain functions of the Security Council to regional bodies, including the African Union. The Minister's reply has revealed that the idea of a movement from an absolutist version of sovereignty has not been accepted fully either by the African Union or in...
- Human Rights Issues. (23 Apr 2009)
Michael D Higgins: Nor is the capacity.
- Foreign Conflicts. (23 Apr 2009)
Michael D Higgins: I was very happy to attend the signing ceremony of the international convention banning all forms of cluster munitions but the relevance of that to the question I asked is not so clear. The three countries to which I referred, Israel, the Russian Federation and Pakistan are not signatories. Regarding the NGO reports, the Minister says it is only when the conflict is over that we can...
- Foreign Conflicts. (23 Apr 2009)
Michael D Higgins: No media is allowed in the area, these are only Government statements.
- Middle East Peace Process. (23 Apr 2009)
Michael D Higgins: Will the Minister indicate before we finish how the Government is advancing what I feel is a consensus on the investigation of war crimes in the recent conflict on both sides? In a recent visit by Mr. John Ging, the leading UNRWA specialist, to the foreign affairs committee, he mentioned that in the pledging conference that took place, the issue was not money but rather that less than 10% of...