Results 3,901-3,920 of 21,096 for speaker:Charles Flanagan

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Expenditure (18 Dec 2014)

Charles Flanagan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 462 and 463 together. While my Department makes use of external IT service providers for various support and maintenance requirements for its data and communications networks, it has not engaged, nor re-negotiated contracts with, any IT consultants since March 2011. In 2010 and 2011 the Department engaged consultants for the purpose of providing...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Appointments to State Boards (18 Dec 2014)

Charles Flanagan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 464 and 474 together. There are no State boards under the aegis of my Department.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Programme for Government Implementation (18 Dec 2014)

Charles Flanagan: The Programme for Government states that the Government ‘will enforce the prohibition of the use of Irish airports and related facilities for purposes not in line with the dictates of international law’. The Government has repeatedly stated that Ireland does not tolerate and will not tolerate the use of our airspace or airports for any illegal purpose, including torture,...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Consular Services Representations (18 Dec 2014)

Charles Flanagan: Since August 2013, when this individual’s detention began, there has been ongoing and regular contact at official and ministerial level with the individual and with the individual’s family in Ireland. Additionally, we have had high level engagement with the Egyptian authorities on the case. From the outset, the Embassy of Ireland in Cairo has had ongoing contact with the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Freedom of Information Data (18 Dec 2014)

Charles Flanagan: Details requested by the Deputy are provided in tabular format below. My Department returns annual figures on FOI requests to the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC); however, as the OIC does not request details of decisions at internal review stage, these statistics are not available for all years. The total number of requests refused includes cases where the information requested...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Reports (18 Dec 2014)

Charles Flanagan: My Department is responsible for two Votes – Vote 28 (Foreign Affairs and Trade) and Vote 27 (International Cooperation). The Department commissions external expertise where highly specialised skills are not available within the Department and particularly where ongoing independent evaluation of programmes and projects is required. During the course of their engagements, these...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Staff Expenses (18 Dec 2014)

Charles Flanagan: My Department comprises two separate votes, Vote 28 Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Vote 27 International Co-operation. The total amount spent per annum in 2011, 2012, 2013 and to date in 2014 on staff subsistence payments and staff taxi payments is as per table. Year Subsistence Taxi fares Reimbursed Total 2011 754,865 151,755 906,620 2012 793,643 166,775 960,418 2013...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Legal Costs (18 Dec 2014)

Charles Flanagan: My Department is responsible for two Votes, Vote 28 (Foreign Affairs and Trade) and Vote 27 (International Cooperation). The amount incurred by my Department in legal costs (excluding settlement costs/awards) in the years 2011, 2012 and 2013 is set out in the table below. With regard to the estimated costs for 2014, it is not possible to predict legal costs with certainty. The provision in...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Official Engagements (18 Dec 2014)

Charles Flanagan: I want to reiterate that Ireland condemns, at the highest level, all forms of torture and ill-treatment. We strongly believe that the absolute prohibition of torture is one of the cornerstones of the international human rights framework and we recall that all countries are obligated to comply with this unconditional prohibition and that no exceptional circumstances may be invoked as a...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (18 Dec 2014)

Charles Flanagan: Resolution of the Syrian crisis remains a top priority for Ireland and its EU partners. UN Special Envoy Staffan di Mistura discussed measures to address the acute security and humanitarian situation, as well as possible steps to move towards a political process, with Foreign Ministers in Brussels for a meeting of the December 2014 Foreign Affairs Council. The EU is the main donor towards...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Irish Aid (18 Dec 2014)

Charles Flanagan: All of Irish Aid’s expenditure is independently audited; it is a specific condition of each grant agreement that an independent audit report is provided to my Department. I can confirm that no cases have come to our attention to date in 2014 which would require the Department to carry out its own investigations into the misuse of funds managed under the aid programme. It should be...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Trade Relations (14 Jan 2015)

Charles Flanagan: Ireland has many Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with China, signed by Ministers or senior officials, as appropriate, and their Chinese counterparts. These are wide-ranging and boost the bi-lateral relationship across a wide array of sectors. In the past ten years, the following MOUs have been signed: On 9 December 2014, while accompanying the President on his State Visit to China, I...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Bodies Data (14 Jan 2015)

Charles Flanagan: In September 2013, the Development Education Advisory Committee (DEAC), which was responsible for providing advice on development education, was officially abolished. This followed the publication of One World One Future, Ireland’s new Policy for International Development, which provided for a member of the DEAC to be appointed to the Irish Aid Expert Advisory Group. The Committee...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Policy (14 Jan 2015)

Charles Flanagan: I warmly welcome the historic decision by President Obama and by President Castro on the restoration of full diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba. As noted in my press statement of 18 December 2014, this is a positive step towards the normalisation of relations between the two countries. Ireland’s concerns about the US economic, commercial and financial measures...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Expenditure (14 Jan 2015)

Charles Flanagan: No monies have been paid by my Department to external consultants, professional companies or advisors on the Action Plan for Jobs for the period in question.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Schemes (14 Jan 2015)

Charles Flanagan: Together with the Department of the Taoiseach, my Department is working with the Public Appointments Service to strengthen our promotion of career opportunities in international organisations, including in the United Nations. Ireland has been a long standing partner of the United Nations Volunteers Programme (UNV), the UN organisation that promotes volunteerism as a means of achieving...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Consular Services Provision (14 Jan 2015)

Charles Flanagan: A core objective of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is the provision of high-quality consular assistance to Irish citizens who find themselves in difficulty while travelling abroad. This assistance is delivered through the Department’s network of diplomatic missions abroad and through the Department’s Consular Division based in Dublin. The Department’s...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Consular Services Provision (14 Jan 2015)

Charles Flanagan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 729 and 742 together. The Government decided in January 2014 to expand Ireland's diplomatic network, with the establishment of five new embassies and three new consulates general. With these and other changes to the diplomatic network, my Department now operates a global network of 80 overseas missions consisting of 61 Embassies, 7 multilateral missions, 11...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Inniúlacht sa Ghaeilge sa Stát Seirbhís (14 Jan 2015)

Charles Flanagan: Tá mo Roinn go h-iomlán tiomanta do sheirbhísí trí Ghaeilge a sholáthar agus freagraí a thabhairt ar comhfhreagras trí Ghaeilge nuair atá siad de dhíth. Is iad Oifig na bPasanna agus an Rannán Consalachta na príomh rannóga ina mbíonn idirgabháil idir an Roinn agus an pobal agus tá riachtanais acu i dtaca le...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Expenditure (14 Jan 2015)

Charles Flanagan: My Department only avails of the services of external photographic agencies where it is warranted, in particular, for major events and State occasions. This is a service which my Department provides so that the media can easily and freely avail of photography where their own staff photographers cannot be fully accommodated. Events such as the visit of State Visit of Queen Elizabeth, the...