Results 601-620 of 4,092 for speaker:Michael D Higgins

Diplomatic Relations and Immunities (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report and Final Stages. (15 Feb 2006)

Michael D Higgins: I am sure the Minister of State wishes it were so but the reality is that following the court case, his Department was advised that it was better to be clear and certain on the process of delegation so that it would not be indiscriminate. This is how the matter arose. It is not a case of one opting in, but rather of one responding to the suggestion that one is on safest ground...

Diplomatic Relations and Immunities (Amendment) Bill 2005: Report and Final Stages. (15 Feb 2006)

Michael D Higgins: Yes.

Rent Supplement: Motion (Resumed). (15 Feb 2006)

Michael D Higgins: I welcome the opportunity to speak on what is, perhaps, the most important issue that affects modern Ireland. I pay tribute to Deputy Gilmore for the manner in which he has laid out the case regarding housing as, perhaps, the greatest failure of contemporary Ireland. What has happened in housing is socially destructive and has torn the heart out of the economy. It is socially destructive in...

Rent Supplement: Motion (Resumed). (15 Feb 2006)

Michael D Higgins: Is it not inherently wonderful and natural, as they smugly bump off each other, that 29% of housing in the city I live in is now in the private sector. How controlled is that private sector? I can tell the Government that even in terms of building standards, it is uninspected and below standard. People are told they should be glad to have anything and if they open their mouths or go to work,...

Written Answers — Disruptive Students: Disruptive Students (15 Feb 2006)

Michael D Higgins: Question 129: To ask the Minister for Education and Science when the report on student behaviour will be published; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5731/06]

Written Answers — Education Funding: Education Funding (15 Feb 2006)

Michael D Higgins: Question 156: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if her Department offers grant support to non-profit making groups and organisations that provide extra curricular educational opportunities in a school context, at no cost, in areas such as music, science and so on; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that some very good work is being done by such organisations, at the...

Written Answers — Broadcasting Services: Broadcasting Services (21 Feb 2006)

Michael D Higgins: Question 119: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources when consultants Deloitte & Touche and solicitors (details supplied) will report on an implementation plan for the establishment of TG4 as an independent statutory body; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6720/06]

Written Answers — Departmental Investigations: Departmental Investigations (21 Feb 2006)

Michael D Higgins: Question 539: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will make a statement on such actions as have been taken by his Department or by the Garda Síochána in regard to a person (details supplied) in County Galway. [6500/06]

Leaders' Questions. (22 Feb 2006)

Michael D Higgins: For football jerseys.

National Archives. (22 Feb 2006)

Michael D Higgins: I support the suggestion that additional space is required, as well as extra staff. When I was a Minister I had responsibility for this area. There is a scholarly interest in the early part of the last century, from 1900 onwards and through the 1920s. Would the Taoiseach agree that the archives for this period should be revisited? Questions have been raised before on this matter. Records on...

National Archives. (22 Feb 2006)

Michael D Higgins: Their reasons are interesting.

Human Rights Abuses. (22 Feb 2006)

Michael D Higgins: Question 58: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the findings of a draft report complied by five independent experts further to an 18-month investigation by the UN Commission on Human Rights into detention conditions at Guantanamo Bay, in particular the finding that aspects of the treatment of prisoners there, including violent force feeding, must be assessed as amounting to...

Human Rights Abuses. (22 Feb 2006)

Michael D Higgins: I welcome the Minister's unequivocal condemnation of torture, his opposition to Guantanamo Bay and his support for the UN Secretary General's comments on the report. Does the Minister agree, however, that there is no legal basis for the Guantanamo facility, no legal protection for the detainees there and that a massive abuse of human rights is involved? As regards the suggested war against...

Human Rights Abuses. (22 Feb 2006)

Michael D Higgins: The adequacy of such assurances must be assessed in the context of the observation of international law by the sovereign state involved. It is the common view of those interested in international law that assurances of the type the Minister has received and accepts are not sufficient as positive compliance with the UN Convention Against Torture. We now have two positions. When the Minister...

Human Rights Abuses. (22 Feb 2006)

Michael D Higgins: Yes.

Human Rights Abuses. (22 Feb 2006)

Michael D Higgins: But what is happening in Guantanamo?

Human Rights Abuses. (22 Feb 2006)

Michael D Higgins: That is why the five people were not allowed in to see the detainees.

Human Rights Abuses. (22 Feb 2006)

Michael D Higgins: Why could he not accept it then?

Human Rights Abuses. (22 Feb 2006)

Michael D Higgins: Yes.

Human Rights Abuses. (22 Feb 2006)

Michael D Higgins: No. They have never entered a plane.