Results 501-520 of 1,981 for speaker:Conor Lenihan

Seanad: Diplomatic Relations and Immunities (Amendment) Bill 2005: Second Stage. (22 Mar 2006)

Conor Lenihan: I wish to stress that they are able people who operate at the highest levels in the Department's headquarters and overseas. I acknowledge Senator Mooney's good wishes for the Secretary General, who is from the Senator's county. Senators Bradford and Mooney expressed their concern that diplomatic relations with Burma could confer legitimacy on that country. Quite the opposite obtains, however,...

Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (29 Mar 2006)

Conor Lenihan: Ireland assists over 30 of the poorest countries in Africa, via a wide array of partnerships through non-governmental organisation, NGOs, and UN agencies and through our own bilateral aid programme delivered via our missions in six priority countries, namely Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique, Ethiopia and Lesotho. In addition, assistance is also provided to a number of countries in Asia...

Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (29 Mar 2006)

Conor Lenihan: Ireland provided total funding assistance of over €8 million to Eritrea for the period 2001-05 inclusive. Eritrea is one of the poorest countries in the world, being placed 161st on the UN human development index, HDI, out of a total of 177 countries. The funding was provided to Ireland's key NGO and UN partners working on the ground in Eritrea on a range of humanitarian and developmental...

Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (4 Apr 2006)

Conor Lenihan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 51 and 132 together. I am aware of the concerns of the non-governmental organisations, NGOs, in relation to decentralisation. These concerns were most recently set out in a letter received from Dochas, the umbrella organisation which represents Irish NGOs involved in development overseas, to which my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Dermot Ahern, replied on 31...

Written Answers — Humanitarian Aid: Humanitarian Aid (4 Apr 2006)

Conor Lenihan: The Government is committed to the provision of humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people. Since 2003, Ireland has delivered over €6.5 million to meet the immediate emergency humanitarian needs of some of the most vulnerable groups in that country. Funding has been delivered through key non-governmental partners such as Concern, GOAL and Trócaire and through UN and international agencies...

Written Answers — Humanitarian Aid: Humanitarian Aid (4 Apr 2006)

Conor Lenihan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 58, 79 and 134 and together. Kenya and its neighbouring countries in the Horn of Africa are in the grip of a severe drought that is directly affecting up to 11 million people across the region. The drought has already killed thousands of livestock, depriving people of their livelihoods and leaving pastoral communities destitute. The impact of poor rainfall...

Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (4 Apr 2006)

Conor Lenihan: In 2006, it is expected that the largest amounts of Irish development aid will be provided to Mozambique, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia. Ireland's assistance will be delivered via our embassies in these countries and through non-governmental organisations, NGOs, missionaries and UN agencies active on the ground. Funding will also be delivered through global programmes supported by...

Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (4 Apr 2006)

Conor Lenihan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 72, 290, 293 and 295 together. A coherent and co-ordinated approach is vital in addressing the immense needs of the vast continent of Africa, needs which have deepened through a complex combination of factors including food insecurity, poverty, climate change, poor economic growth, conflict, severe infrastructural deficits, poor governance, debt and the...

Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (4 Apr 2006)

Conor Lenihan: I propose to take Question Nos. 85, 129 and 278 together. In October of last year, following a series of public consultation meetings around the country in advance of the publication of Ireland's first ever White Paper on Development Policy, I decided, in consultation with my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Dermot Ahern, that we should change the name of Ireland's official development...

Written Answers — Humanitarian Aid: Humanitarian Aid (4 Apr 2006)

Conor Lenihan: The humanitarian situation in the Sahel region of west Africa remains a matter of deepest concern to me. In 2005, the deepening food crisis in Niger and surrounding countries highlighted a weakness in the international response system. The urgency of the situation took too long to come to light and the response was delayed as a result. At the time, Ireland responded in a prompt and timely...

Written Answers — Humanitarian Aid: Humanitarian Aid (4 Apr 2006)

Conor Lenihan: Emergency humanitarian aid of €60 million has been allocated within the overseas development assistance budget for 2006. This funding is allocated on the basis of humanitarian need to save lives wherever they are threatened. The funding is not therefore pre-allocated to any region of the world. Funding is released in line with the principles of best humanitarian practice which are...

Written Answers — Human Rights Issues: Human Rights Issues (4 Apr 2006)

Conor Lenihan: Ireland is strongly supportive of international standards and norms to combat all forms of slavery, including child labour. During our Presidency of the European Union, Ireland made a statement on behalf of the EU at the Commission on Human Rights on contemporary forms of slavery, which strongly condemned child labour. Ireland and the EU have also raised this important issue at meetings of...

Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (4 Apr 2006)

Conor Lenihan: Ireland's total bilateral aid to Ethiopia in 2005 amounted to €35 million. It is expected that the total funding to Ethiopia in 2006 will be at approximately the same level. Ireland's support to Ethiopia is focused on addressing the basic needs of the rural poor. Ireland does not provide general or direct budget support to the federal Government of Ethiopia. Of the total budget for 2005,...

Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (4 Apr 2006)

Conor Lenihan: My Department is now engaged in planning a more operational and value added response to humanitarian crises, through the development of a distinctively Irish rapid response initiative, RRI. This initiative includes the pre-positioning and transportation of humanitarian supplies to disaster areas; the availability of a roster of highly skilled and experienced individuals, including from the...

Written Answers — International Agreements: International Agreements (4 Apr 2006)

Conor Lenihan: The European Commission represents the EU member states in the WTO negotiations and has been supportive of the Africa, Caribbean, Pacific, ACP, position in the negotiation group which is looking at the rules governing all regional trade agreements under GATT Article XXIV. In its submission, the Commission states that regional trade agreements — which include the economic partnership...

Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (4 Apr 2006)

Conor Lenihan: There are three principal development specialists and 12 senior development specialists attached to Irish Aid. All specialist posts will be transferring to Limerick. There are no current applications for these posts in Limerick. Two senior development specialists originally applied to decentralise to Limerick, but subsequently withdrew their applications. Discussions are ongoing with...

Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (4 Apr 2006)

Conor Lenihan: The most recent information and statistics on the HIV-AIDS epidemic are contained in the annual report, AIDS Epidemic Update 2005, released by the joint United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS, and the World Health Organisation, WHO. This report noted progress in declining HIV infection rates in a number of countries and increasing access to HIV treatment. Adult HIV infection rates have...

Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (4 Apr 2006)

Conor Lenihan: Ireland provides no humanitarian or development funding directly to the government of Eritrea. Ireland provided total funding assistance of more than €8 million toEritrea for the period 2001-2005 inclusive. The breakdown of funding provided by year is shown in the table. 2001 762,000 2002 1,370,000 2003 1,547,000 2004 1,958,100 2005 2,443,000 Total 2001-2005 8,080,100...

Seanad: Diplomatic Relations and Immunities (Amendment) Bill 2005: Committee and Remaining Stages. (6 Apr 2006)

Conor Lenihan: The Senator is correct. A number of Senators raised this matter on Second Stage in the House and I assure them that the development aid sector, including Irish Aid, is very determined that representatives on the ground, who are supervising enormous sums of money on the taxpayers' behalf in parts of Africa, where we operate on a programme-country basis, will not suffer any disadvantage by dint...

Seanad: Diplomatic Relations and Immunities (Amendment) Bill 2005: Committee and Remaining Stages. (6 Apr 2006)

Conor Lenihan: I welcome the Senator's intervention regarding Burma and the other countries he mentioned earlier. I will deal with the last one first. As I indicated on the previous occasion when the Bill came before the House, Ireland is one of the foremost countries in utterly condemning the terrible acts of the Burmese junta. As the Senator is aware, Europe applies some element of exclusion on senior...