Results 681-700 of 9,140 for speaker:Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

Written Answers — Overseas Missions: Overseas Missions (11 Jan 2012)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Question 660: To ask the Minister for Defence if he will confirm that the Irish Defence Forces will be participating with the German Austrian Czech battle group in 2012. [41060/11]

Written Answers — Sport and Recreational Development: Sport and Recreational Development (12 Jan 2012)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Question 31: To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the role he sees for sport in the promotion of the national image in 2012; the way he intends to ensure that role is realised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1535/12]

Written Answers — Road Network: Road Network (12 Jan 2012)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Question 50: To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the position regarding the funding being provided by the State for the A5 Dublin to Derry road and progress in its construction. [1580/12]

International Agreements (17 Jan 2012)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Question 30: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade with respect to the provision, contained in the draft intergovernmental treaty, to introduce the 0.5% deficit ceiling and a tougher debt reduction target for States with debt ratios above 60% into national binding provisions of a constitutional or equivalent level, his views that this will require a referendum; his...

International Agreements (17 Jan 2012)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: It is widely agreed that the three crises we are facing across Europe relate to banking, sovereign debt and investment and what has been put before us by European leaders does not provide a solution to one of those crises. They have focused on, for bizarre reasons, the issue of permanent austerity to drive down wages and conditions and so on and to cut and privatise public services as a...

International Agreements (17 Jan 2012)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I will get to it quickly.

International Agreements (17 Jan 2012)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: The target now is 3% now but a 0.5% target is draconian. Seeking to reduce the debt to GDP ratio to 60%, bringing it down 5% per year, is also draconian and has dramatic implications for the Irish people. The Government has been asked in the first draft to enshrine it in the Constitution or equivalent legislation. What is the position of the Government on that? Is the Minister willing to...

International Agreements (17 Jan 2012)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: In the first published document, it was stated that the balanced budget rule - basically, Draconian austerity - had to be enshrined at constitutional or equivalent level. The latest draft, the third draft, states that the Government should enshrine this through binding and permanent provisions, preferably constitutional. Is our negotiating team trying to avoid a referendum? Is it trying to...

Foreign Conflicts (17 Jan 2012)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Question 33: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the fact that in a public declaration by a number of leading international and national figures, including Bertie Ahern, Gerry Adams, Kofi Annan, Gro Harlem Bruntland, Pierre Joxe and Jonathan Powell at a public conference in San Sebastian on 17 October 2011, representatives...

Foreign Conflicts (17 Jan 2012)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: The intervention at the international conference in San Sebastian last October was a key one, particularly as it included figures from the Irish peace process, Kofi Annan and Jonathan Powell, the former chief of staff under Tony Blair. This was a key intervention to which there has been a positive response. As in the case of the Irish peace process, the next step is to definitively...

Foreign Conflicts (17 Jan 2012)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: The Tánaiste will agree that because of our relatively recent experience we are well qualified to constructively assist the Spanish Government and the people of the Basque country in finding a lasting solution. In the recent parliamentary elections, to which the Tánaiste alluded, a cross-section of Members of the Spanish Parliament was elected in the Basque country which was representative...

Overseas Development Aid (17 Jan 2012)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I congratulate Deputy Costello on his appointment as Minister of State. We worked on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Affairs and I look forward to continuing our work. What the Minister of State has outlined is very welcome. I had the opportunity to read one of the excellent reports by Trócaire on the impact of the trade agreement between the EU and Colombia and Peru, to which...

Overseas Development Aid (17 Jan 2012)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Barack Obama, who is the President of the United States, and other senior Democrats have sought a reduction in funding. There is a shameful history in Latin America of the CIA and such organisations, who trained despot regimes. Thank God people in those countries are rising up and electing governments. There are concerns in Colombia about the ongoing human rights situation and the fact...

Human Rights Issues (17 Jan 2012)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I thank the Tánaiste for his forthright comments on Bahrain. Any time I have raised the issue, the Tánaiste has been strident in his condemnation of the human rights abuses that have taken place. It is worrying that despite the efforts of the Tánaiste and of the international community the authorities in Bahrain continue to crack down on legitimate peaceful human rights protests. It is of...

Human Rights Issues (17 Jan 2012)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: Question 38: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the steps he is taking to support the Congolese community of Ireland, many of whom are Irish citizens, in their struggle to highlight the human and political situation in the Congo, which is currently on the brink of war; and his views that it is his duty to support the Irish Congolese community in their efforts to...

Human Rights Issues (17 Jan 2012)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: As with the Minister of State, I availed of the opportunity to meet representatives of the Congolese community late last year, listen to their concerns and learn of their expertise as Congolese citizens. The circumstances are deeply alarming. I welcome the tone of the Minister of State's comments. What is occurring is an appalling tragedy when one considers the vast natural resources of...

Leaders' Questions (17 Jan 2012)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: After years of underinvestment.

Leaders' Questions (17 Jan 2012)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: That is for the Taoiseach's colleagues.

Hospital Services (17 Jan 2012)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I thank the office of the Ceann Comhairle for accepting this issue, and the Minister of State for attending. As we speak, and in recent weeks, the accident and emergency ward in Letterkenny General Hospital has faced another crisis situation. Staff are working in impossible conditions under severe pressure. Many of them, speaking off the record to the local media, have spoken of being at...

Hospital Services (17 Jan 2012)

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn: I am shocked. Whoever wrote this reply needs to talk to the Letterkenny hospital nursing unions, local journalists and politicians rather than using some strange accounting mechanism to claim all is fine. For the life of me, I cannot understand from where the HSE is getting its figures and claiming everything is hunky dory. It must be a different hospital from the one from which I get...