Results 13,541-13,560 of 15,491 for speaker:Eamon Gilmore

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Situation In Syria: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Sep 2013)

Eamon Gilmore: I thank the Chairman and members of the joint committee for inviting me to discuss with them the issue of Syria at this time. The conflict in Syria is a tragedy and a humanitarian disaster, but it is also a complex challenge, touching on international law and issues surrounding the spread of chemical and other weapons. The scale of each of these challenges is huge and their resolution will...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Situation In Syria: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Sep 2013)

Eamon Gilmore: The UN inspectors were not asked to express a view on who was responsible. Their task was to establish in the first instance whether chemical weapons had been used because, as the Chairman will be aware, there were vigorous denials that they had been used. They were also asked to investigate the extent to which chemical weapons were used. It is clear from the extent of what was used that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Situation In Syria: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Sep 2013)

Eamon Gilmore: First, we must acknowledge that the international community faces serious challenges in delivering humanitarian assistance. We have been working through a number of NGOs and United Nations agencies. I admire the work they are doing in trying to get aid through. Inside Syria there are excessive controls on aid agencies working in the country. The fragmentation of the armed opposition and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Situation In Syria: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Sep 2013)

Eamon Gilmore: Ireland has taken a consistent position on the issue of sending arms to Syria, which is that we do not want to see the further militarisation of the conflict in Syria. We were keen for the European Union to renew its arms embargo on Syria and I had hoped this would happen, but it was not possible to get agreement. The supply of arms to Syria is often portrayed as arming the opposition or...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Situation In Syria: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Sep 2013)

Eamon Gilmore: The issue in Syria has moved on from some of those questions, particularly the last batch of questions about how one sees it in terms of the big picture issues of power and influence in the region. A conflict has been going on for over two years and more than 100,000 people have been killed. There has been an involvement by some external actors - if I can use that term. It has become a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Situation In Syria: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Sep 2013)

Eamon Gilmore: A strong position has been taken by the European Union in particular from the beginning of the conflict in March 2011 when protests about security force abuses started which resulted in the adoption of sanctions. The Security Council has also made repeated efforts to agree strong resolutions and a robust response to what is happening in Syria. Unfortunately, it was not possible to reach...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Situation In Syria: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Sep 2013)

Eamon Gilmore: I mentioned the Red Cross. We have contributed €1.4 million to it and it mainly provides food, medical aid and assistance to refugees.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Situation In Syria: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Sep 2013)

Eamon Gilmore: That is a big dimension of the crisis. The crisis in Syria has led to the movement of more than two million refugees out of the country. Those people are desperately seeking sanctuary from the conflict. All the region's countries are experiencing the effect of the humanitarian crisis. The countries most seriously affected are Jordan and Lebanon where more than 60% of the total refugee...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Situation In Syria: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Sep 2013)

Eamon Gilmore: I agree with Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan that Iran has an important role to play in this regard and that it should be part of the Geneva II process. I spoke by telephone with the new Foreign Minister of Iran recently and exchanged with him Ireland's views on the situation and the role Iran might play. As for the issue of chemical weapons, as I mentioned in my opening contribution the use of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Situation In Syria: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Sep 2013)

Eamon Gilmore: First, I thank Senator Walsh for his kind remarks. Let me start with the contribution of the Russian foreign Minister, Mr. Lavrov, and US Secretary of State, Mr. Kerry. I have had the privilege of discussing the issue of Syria with both, more recently with Mr. Kerry at the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Vilnius, and I am not in any doubt about their personal commitment to seeking a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Situation In Syria: Discussion with Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (18 Sep 2013)

Eamon Gilmore: Deputy Dan Neville has identified the key dimension of the refugee crisis, namely, the tension there can be between refugees and the host community. It is a worrying dimension, reflecting the pressure on the countries with large refugee populations. Inevitably, there are tensions and pressures. This will have to be managed and worked on very carefully. On the wider issues raised by...

Leaders' Questions (19 Sep 2013)

Eamon Gilmore: I am not familiar with the details of Kate Crowley's situation, as referred to by the Deputy. The Minister for Education and Skills has likewise indicated that he is not aware of it. I assure the Deputy, however, that the Minister will examine the case, find out what has happened and respond to the Deputy very quickly indeed. It is fair to say that where somebody has a need, that need...

Leaders' Questions (19 Sep 2013)

Eamon Gilmore: We are dealing with two matters. The Government has protected provision for special needs education and I have outlined the details, including additional special classes and the measures taken to protect special needs assistants and resource teachers. The question arises as to why we find individual cases or a particular problem in an individual school-----

Leaders' Questions (19 Sep 2013)

Eamon Gilmore: ----- where a child clearly needs provision and ask why the matter is not being addressed. The Minister for Education and Skills is doing a number of things to square these two points. He has appointed Mr. Eamon Stack to carry out an assessment of the allocation model to discover why the protection of resources does not appear, in some cases, to be translated on the ground. The Minister...

Leaders' Questions (19 Sep 2013)

Eamon Gilmore: With regard to Priory Hall, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan, has initiated a process and within a short period of time it will work up solutions with stakeholders. The process started this morning and the Minister expects to have a report shortly. The Priory Hall issue is being dealt with quite quickly by the Government and I hope for a...

Leaders' Questions (19 Sep 2013)

Eamon Gilmore: First, the Priory Hall issue is being dealt with. As I have said, the process that has been put in place is intended to be activated quickly. I will not prejudge the outcome of that. It will be dealt with quickly. The residents of Priory Hall have waited a very long time. I accept that there were judicial issues, legal issues, etc., for a period of time. The problems in Priory Hall are...

Leaders' Questions (19 Sep 2013)

Eamon Gilmore: Our objective has always been to put in place the pathway and architecture to enable households and families to secure a settlement of their mortgage arrears difficulties with their financial institutions. That has to be done on a case-by-case basis. Progress is being made on it. We will continue to monitor it because at the end of the day-----

Leaders' Questions (19 Sep 2013)

Eamon Gilmore: Absolutely.

Leaders' Questions (19 Sep 2013)

Eamon Gilmore: Let me tell them publicly.

Leaders' Questions (19 Sep 2013)

Eamon Gilmore: I say to the banks that we want the issue of mortgage arrears with households resolved and we do not want any issue of attitude, arrogance or any other term that Deputy McDonald wants to put on it. We want this problem solved. That is why we passed the legislation. That is why we established the personal insolvency service. That is also why such provision was included in the...