Results 3,521-3,540 of 3,895 for speaker:John Halligan

Other Questions: Israeli Settlements (18 Jun 2019)

John Halligan: The Deputy is correct that the primary concern is with the demolition and confiscation and the hardship and injustice that have been caused to Palestinian families. He is aware that I have visited the West Bank and seen the conditions in which many Palestinians are living. On the main issue of the Israelis' attitude towards the West Bank and the settlements, I am aware that the...

Other Questions: Israeli Settlements (18 Jun 2019)

John Halligan: Ireland provides development and humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of the most vulnerable Palestinian men, women and children. This aid amounted to €15 million in 2018. The funding addressed both humanitarian and development needs, providing emergency assistance to the most vulnerable while also supporting the Palestinian Authority in the public service delivery and civil...

Other Questions: Northern Ireland (18 Jun 2019)

John Halligan: The Government is aware of the Time for Truth march that took place in Belfast on 9 June and was attended by a range of victims' families and groups. Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade were present at the event on the day, and the Government maintains ongoing contact with many of the victims’ families who participated, in support of their efforts to secure...

Other Questions: Northern Ireland (18 Jun 2019)

John Halligan: A couple of issues arise with regard to the Northern Ireland Commission for Victims and Survivors and the Stormont House Agreement legacy bodies. The Deputy referred to the Ballymurphy case and if I have time, I will return to that. The Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Charles Flanagan, and the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Coveney, have received...

Other Questions: Northern Ireland (18 Jun 2019)

John Halligan: I am not in a position to say who should or should not apologise while ongoing negotiations are taking place between the two Governments. Deputy Crowe will be aware that advice has been received from the Commissioner for Victims and Survivors on the Stormont House Agreement legacy bodies. Talks are ongoing on all legacy issues, including the Ballymurphy, Kingsmill, Ludlow, McAnespie and...

Other Questions: Passport Services (18 Jun 2019)

John Halligan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 44 and 47 together. The Passport Service, located in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, is one unified service composed of three constituent offices located in Lower Mount Street, Dublin, Balbriggan, County Dublin, and South Mall, Cork. The Passport Service operates three passport printing machines, two of which are located in the main...

Other Questions: Passport Services (18 Jun 2019)

John Halligan: Some extra staff and resources have been given to the Cork region. The passport service received sanction this year for 236 temporary clerical officers to be appointed to the passport offices in Dublin and Cork in accordance with the requirements of each office. Of these temporary clerical officers, 30 were sanctioned for the Cork passport office. In addition, 13 clerical officers have...

Other Questions: Passport Services (18 Jun 2019)

John Halligan: There was an assessment of the requirements of the offices in Dublin and Cork. The office in Cork required 43 more staff, 30 temporary officers and 13 clerical officers, and it received them. Each passport printer has a capacity of approximately 250 passports per hour. The printing requirements of the office in Cork are met, according to the office in Cork, by the machines in Balbriggan...

Other Questions: Passport Services (18 Jun 2019)

John Halligan: We have been assured by the passport offices in Mount Street, Dublin, and South Mall, Cork, that they can facilitate the issuing of emergency travel documents where there is an urgent need to travel, particularly for medical reasons or due to a bereavement abroad where the strict criteria for the issuing of such documents have been met. To repeat, we are basing the answers to these questions...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Education and Training Boards Data (18 Jun 2019)

John Halligan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 164 and 165 together. The National Construction Training Centre in Mount Lucas caters for construction plant training and was established by FÁS in 2008. Following the establishment of SOLAS as the agency for further education and training in 2013, responsibility for former FÁS training centres was transferred to the Education and Training Boards....

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Administration (18 Jun 2019)

John Halligan: School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of my Department. There are currently over 117,500 children, including over 13,000 children with special educational needs, transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres annually. The purpose of the...

Copyright and Other Intellectual Property Law Provisions Bill 2018: From the Seanad (19 Jun 2019)

John Halligan: These amendments were accepted in the Seanad recently. I thank Deputies for their previous engagement on this important Bill. I hope we can conclude its passage through the Oireachtas today. While the Bill was progressing through the Oireachtas, my Department received representations from stakeholders regarding certain issues they had identified with it, as drafted. As a result, most of...

Copyright and Other Intellectual Property Law Provisions Bill 2018: From the Seanad (19 Jun 2019)

John Halligan: I thank the Deputy for his comments on innovation. I acknowledge that we have not reached the 2.5% target but that is true of many countries across Europe. The innovation barometer is taken as part of our GDP so the current figure of 1.45% is probably inaccurate. The Department believes that it is probably higher than that at 1.6% or 1.7%. On amendment No. 1, the Deputy will be aware...

Copyright and Other Intellectual Property Law Provisions Bill 2018: From the Seanad (19 Jun 2019)

John Halligan: This matter relates to two Departments, our Department and the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, which has responsibility for some policy in that area. In terms of what happened, stakeholders came forward who were somewhat concerned about the definition, as I said in my earlier reply. We believe that has been clarified. They raised concerns in particular about the...

Copyright and Other Intellectual Property Law Provisions Bill 2018: From the Seanad (19 Jun 2019)

John Halligan: The purpose of the Bill is to amend and update copyright and other intellectual property law to modernise it for the digital age and to enable rights holders to better protect their intellectual property rights in the courts. Similar to the broadcasting amendments, the amendments which are being sought to the provisions on exceptions for education purposes are as a result of concerns raised...

Copyright and Other Intellectual Property Law Provisions Bill 2018: From the Seanad (19 Jun 2019)

John Halligan: To answer the Deputy's first question, the 5% is standard. We have checked this across Europe and so on. To answer her second question, this is just the replacing of words. Inadvertently some words were placed in the Bill. We received legal advice on this to the effect that these words needed to be replaced to bring substance to what that particular section of the Bill is about. That...

Copyright and Other Intellectual Property Law Provisions Bill 2018: From the Seanad (19 Jun 2019)

John Halligan: I see where Deputy Lawless is coming from regarding intellectual property. Of course, this Bill delves into research, etc. The Deputy is correct that there are other countries, such as Israel, which have almost reached 2.5% of GDP. I would make the following interesting point. The scoreboard dates back to the recession, particularly, the banking crisis, when we were not able to invest as...

Copyright and Other Intellectual Property Law Provisions Bill 2018: From the Seanad (19 Jun 2019)

John Halligan: This was also accepted by the Seanad. Section 106 is the result of an Opposition that was proposed on Report Stage in Dáil Éireann by Deputy Lawless. This amendment was accepted by the Government as a pragmatic way to address the issue of capturing the web. We have accepted Deputy Lawless's amendment by calling for a report to be published on the feasibility of establishing a...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport Appeals (19 Jun 2019)

John Halligan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 129 to 131, inclusive, together. School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. There are currently over 117,500 children, including over 13,000 children with special educational needs, transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Youthreach Programme Review (25 Jun 2019)

John Halligan: As part of a series of reviews of Further Education and Training programmes, SOLAS commissioned an independent review of the National Youthreach Programme which was conducted by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). The review report, launched on 17 June, provides a comprehensive evaluation of the National Youthreach Programme and, making use of both quantitative and qualitative...