Results 2,981-3,000 of 32,547 for speaker:Paschal Donohoe

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Foreign Conflicts (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: States have the right to have their borders protected by international law and their people have the right to make decisions in accordance with domestic and international law. It is in Ireland's national interests that those international laws and values are upheld and articulated. We have argued, and the EU has recognised, that the response to what is already a historic mistake and crisis...

Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 8, 14 and 18 together. As we have previously stated, Russia’s violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity has given rise to the worst crisis in Europe since the end of the Cold War. Ireland has strongly condemned Russian actions from the outset of the crisis. The referendum held in Crimea on 16 March was illegal and its...

Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I have a question for the Deputy in return. We were dealing with a Government in Ukraine which said it wanted to join the European Union and on which the European Union engaged in good faith and which reflected the views of many people within the country. What would the Deputy have done in response to that? Does the Deputy really believe there is parity and equivalence between what the...

Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: The Deputy may feel there is a tradition of Ministers coming into the House not answering his questions. He raised his voice and waved his pen at me. I asked him two questions. The first question I put related to the chain of events leading up to this. An elected Ukrainian Government said it wanted to develop a further, deeper and peaceful relationship with the European Union. What...

Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: The EU talked to the Ukrainian Government, which was democratically elected as the Deputy well knows. The second question, which I put to him again, was whether the Deputy believes there is parity and equivalence between what the European Union has done, which has been peaceful and based on negotiation, and the actions of the Russian Federation.

Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I am very happy to come into the House to debate all the other points the Deputy made in regard to what happened in international law over the past ten years and his views and concerns in regard to that but the questions tabled relate to Ukraine. I visited parts of the Balkans in January and saw many of the difficulties still there and the current consequences of the bloodshed and pain that...

Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: Does Deputy Wallace believe there is equivalence between how the European Union has conducted itself in regard to this and how the Russian Federation has behaved?

Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: At least what we have attained, in what has been a debate here, is clarity on where the Deputy is coming from. While the Deputy has condemned what Russia has been doing, he also said that what the European Union has done recently is equivalent. The European Union is not the body which had troops in place when an illegal referendum was being held. It is not the body which has broken...

Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I will conclude on this point.

Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: On the point made in regard to the expansion of the European Union into central and eastern Europe, that expansion has been continually affirmed by the peoples in those countries in election after election.

Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputies for their questions. On what Deputy Daly said to me, we should be clear that there is absolutely no equivalence between the values of the European Union in respect of dealing with Ukraine-----

Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: -----and what we have seen from Russia. Has the Deputy seen the European Union seek to expand its borders unilaterally and change those of another country?

Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: We have seen the European Union work with countries on the basis of the wishes of their peoples. On the question of whether the European Union sought to put in place armies on the territory of another country, as happened in Crimea, the answer is "No". I welcome the debate here. It is the kind of exchange of views we should have on the floor of the Dáil. I am happy to express mine...

Other Questions: Human Rights Issues (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I propose to take Questions Nos. 7, 12 and 23 together. Ireland is strongly opposed to capital punishment under all circumstances. Opposition to the death penalty is also a core principle of the European Union’s external relations policies. The verdict of the Minya court, which issued 529 death sentences on individuals convicted of a variety of offences, including the murder of a...

Other Questions: Human Rights Issues (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for raising this extremely worrying breach of human rights. I must emphasise two points in response to his questions. The events are exceptionally worrying and disturbing. I have already outlined the contact that has occurred at EU level and the further discussions that will take place on the matter. I emphasise again how exceptionally disturbing and worrying these...

Other Questions: Human Rights Issues (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: It is a substantial number of people

Other Questions: Human Rights Issues (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I would like to emphasise what has already happened, and what has yet to happen, in this regard. When High Representative Ashton met the Egyptian Foreign Minister on behalf of the EU on Monday, she made it clear that there is a high level of worry at EU level about the possible imposition on a shocking number of people of a penalty to which we are fundamentally and irrevocably opposed. I...

Other Questions: Human Rights Issues (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I am not saying for a moment that the Deputy did so deliberately. I remind the House that these sentences have yet to be confirmed. In the meantime, Ireland and the EU will continue to emphasise our worry and make it clear that it would be unacceptable for such a penalty to be carried out.

Other Questions: Human Rights Issues (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I thank the Deputy for his questions. I would like to remind him, in response to his comments about the export of arms, that a number of measures were agreed at an extraordinary meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in August 2013. The measures in question, which relate to the violent suppression of the protests mentioned by Deputy Boyd Barrett, have since been implemented. I will explain...

Other Questions: Human Rights Issues (3 Apr 2014)

Paschal Donohoe: I would like to remind the House of the breadth of the measures introduced by the EU in response to some of the issues mentioned by the Deputy. They relate, for example, to the export of products that could be used for the kinds of behaviours and practices that we absolutely condemn. The Deputy drew an analogy between what is happening in Crimea and what is happening in Egypt. The key...