Results 6,481-6,500 of 9,147 for speaker:Pat Breen

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Business of Joint Committee (8 Oct 2014)

Pat Breen: The draft minutes of the meeting of 1 October have been circulated to members. Are they agreed to? Agreed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Humanitarian Impact of Conflict in Syria: Concern (8 Oct 2014)

Pat Breen: I welcome the delegates. The purpose of the meeting is to meet representatives of Concern to discuss the ongoing crisis in Syria. Obviously, the position is changing day by day and it will be useful to have a discussion with Concern which I understand has been working inside Syria since May 2013. I note that it is almost a year to the day since members started to discuss the situation in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Humanitarian Impact of Conflict in Syria: Concern (8 Oct 2014)

Pat Breen: Will Ms O'Mahony update the committee on Concern's activities in Syria and the work it does there?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Humanitarian Impact of Conflict in Syria: Concern (8 Oct 2014)

Pat Breen: Thank you, Ms O'Mahony and Ms Kennedy. I will now take questions from members, beginning with Deputy Brendan Smith and Senator David Norris.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Humanitarian Impact of Conflict in Syria: Concern (8 Oct 2014)

Pat Breen: I invite the delegates to respond before I invite other members to speak.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Humanitarian Impact of Conflict in Syria: Concern (8 Oct 2014)

Pat Breen: That is something we will deal with after we hear the presentations and the questions today. I see no problem with the recommendations and it is something on which we can make representations to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In addition, the Minister will be appearing before the committee in the coming weeks and those issues can be raised directly with him before the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Humanitarian Impact of Conflict in Syria: Concern (8 Oct 2014)

Pat Breen: I wish to follow up on a question about the work Concern does in health education provision. We are all aware of the refugee camps in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan and the pressure they put on the governments of these countries, particularly Jordan and Lebanon which have very limited resources. The number of refugees at the Zaatari camp increased from 15,000 to 150,000. The refugee camps in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Humanitarian Impact of Conflict in Syria: Concern (8 Oct 2014)

Pat Breen: That is fine.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Humanitarian Impact of Conflict in Syria: Concern (8 Oct 2014)

Pat Breen: Is the issue that many of the people in question will never return to Syria? When we were in Jordan we were told that this was a civil war, that there was no interim solution and that it would go on for ten years. Many of the people in question will settle and not return to their homeland.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Humanitarian Impact of Conflict in Syria: Concern (8 Oct 2014)

Pat Breen: Does anybody else want to get involved? In that case I thank all the witnesses for coming before the committee this afternoon. I thank Ms O'Mahoney, Ms Kennedy and Mr. Doyle for their contributions and updating us on Concern's activities within Syria and the recommendations they have brought before the committee. We have no problem supporting those recommendations, and we will write to the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Issues of Mutual Concern between Ireland and Colombia: Ambassador of Colombia (9 Oct 2014)

Pat Breen: I am aware that this is a busy morning for members. As well as being obliged to attend other meetings, a number of them are due to be present in the Chamber. We are meeting earlier than is normally the case. The only item on the agenda is our engagement with His Excellency, Mr. Néstor Osorio, Ambassador of Colombia to Ireland, who is accompanied by the deputy head of mission, Mr. Juan...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Issues of Mutual Concern between Ireland and Colombia: Ambassador of Colombia (9 Oct 2014)

Pat Breen: I thank the ambassador for updating us on the current situation in the political, human rights and trade areas

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Issues of Mutual Concern between Ireland and Colombia: Ambassador of Colombia (9 Oct 2014)

Pat Breen: I propose to bring in every member offering because I am sure most of the questions will overlap as they will be on the same theme. I wish to spare the ambassador the job of repeating himself.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Issues of Mutual Concern between Ireland and Colombia: Ambassador of Colombia (9 Oct 2014)

Pat Breen: When I was in Colombia four years ago, we travelled to Buenaventura on the coastline where a new port was being built. There was some concern at the time over the displacement of the African-Colombian people. They had set up temporary homes on the coast and there was a proposal to displace them. What is the current situation with regard to those people? They were also building new roads...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Issues of Mutual Concern between Ireland and Colombia: Ambassador of Colombia (9 Oct 2014)

Pat Breen: Is Colombia still developing the port on the Pacific?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Issues of Mutual Concern between Ireland and Colombia: Ambassador of Colombia (9 Oct 2014)

Pat Breen: Mr. Osorio must have made everybody happy because there is no second round of questions. I thank Mr. Osorio for being so open and frank. It is clear from his contribution today that he knows the coffee business well. I thank him for taking the time to meet the committee and we look forward to ongoing meetings with him. We will distribute the documents to all the members of the committee....

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Supplementary Welfare Allowance Appeals (14 Oct 2014)

Pat Breen: 14. To ask the Minister for Social Protection when a decision on a supplementary welfare allowance will issue in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Clare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38906/14]

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Domiciliary Care Allowance Applications (14 Oct 2014)

Pat Breen: 29. To ask the Minister for Social Protection when a decision will issue on a domiciliary care allowance in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Clare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39098/14]

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Single Payment Scheme Payments (14 Oct 2014)

Pat Breen: 106. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when a single farm payment will issue to a person (details supplied) in County Clare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39219/14]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Card Applications (14 Oct 2014)

Pat Breen: 196. To ask the Minister for Health when a decision on a medical card application will issue in respect of persons (details supplied) in County Clare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39169/14]