Results 1,381-1,400 of 1,687 for speaker:Eric Byrne

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Bilateral Relations and the Activities of Boko Haram: Ambassador of Nigeria (4 Feb 2015)

Eric Byrne: I thank Deputy Halligan. Someone has their phone switched on and it is interfering with the broadcast. We ask people to double-check that their phones are switched off.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Bilateral Relations and the Activities of Boko Haram: Ambassador of Nigeria (4 Feb 2015)

Eric Byrne: A fair litany of questions have been asked, but before the ambassador answers them, having read her extremely extensive curriculum vitae, I would like first to congratulate her as ambassador. I note that she will probably have found some of the questions to be highly challenging, given her extensive political and medical experience on behalf of women in Nigeria. She has written a manual for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Bilateral Relations and the Activities of Boko Haram: Ambassador of Nigeria (4 Feb 2015)

Eric Byrne: I ask Senator Norris to work through the Chair. We would like to see the ambassador answer the huge volume of questions that have been posed without adding additional ones to the already long list.

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Mortgage Lending (10 Feb 2015)

Eric Byrne: 211. To ask the Minister for Finance his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding the Central Bank of Ireland restrictions on mortgage lending; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6111/15]

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Pension Provisions (10 Feb 2015)

Eric Byrne: 215. To ask the Minister for Finance the reasons for the changes to the standard fund threshold regime; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5630/15]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Possible Exit of UK from European Union: Colm McCarthy (10 Feb 2015)

Eric Byrne: I thank Colm McCarthy for his contribution. As if we in Europe did not have enough trouble with Greece, now we have to consider all the "ifs" and "buts" and look at the worst case scenario that is Britain opting out of the European Union. They have had to go through a huge number of hoops but if Britain decided to opt out it would be a disaster for Europe. Leaving that aside, we are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Possible Exit of UK from European Union: Colm McCarthy (10 Feb 2015)

Eric Byrne: Yes. In terms of the referendum, who knows? It is an "if" and "but" situation. The Conservatives might recommend staying in Europe, on foot of a referendum and after whatever negotiations were concluded. Those are my three points.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Priorities of Latvian Presidency of European Council: Latvian Ambassador to Ireland (11 Feb 2015)

Eric Byrne: The ambassador and his colleague are very welcome. The ambassador is doing a great job on behalf of his country. I have met him at many events. He has been very active and I congratulate him on that. I hope the Ministry for foreign affairs in Latvia recognise his hard work. To follow on from what Deputy Smith said, Latvia plays a very important role in a very sensitive political...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Priorities of Latvian Presidency of European Council: Latvian Ambassador to Ireland (11 Feb 2015)

Eric Byrne: I have one supplementary question. Is it a Latvian-Irish issue or a Latvian-European issue?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Priorities of Latvian Presidency of European Council: Latvian Ambassador to Ireland (11 Feb 2015)

Eric Byrne: The Civil Registration (Amendment) Bill 2014 has been introduced in the House. The statistics I am reading are in the briefing on that Bill. It has not concluded but it has been introduced. Our end would also say that Latvia has a responsibility because the trafficking of women is organised there rather than in Ireland. We have attempted to stop some of these sham marriages and we fell...

Order of Business (12 Feb 2015)

Eric Byrne: Is the Tánaiste in a position to convey to the Dáil today the current status of the sale of alcohol Bill, the purpose of which is to codify in law measures related to the consumption and sale of alcohol?

Written Answers — Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: National Standards Authority of Ireland (17 Feb 2015)

Eric Byrne: 244. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the position regarding certification by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6960/15]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Possible Exit of UK from European Union: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Feb 2015)

Eric Byrne: Following our previous experience with witnesses, I came in here of the view that we were dealing with a complex question with many ifs and buts. However, I am sorry to say I have been made deeply depressed by the contributions, particularly when our little dream that the referendum may not be held is, according to Mr. Aiken's position, unrealistic, notwithstanding that the election has not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: GOAL Programmes in South Sudan: CEO of GOAL (18 Feb 2015)

Eric Byrne: I thank Mr. Andrews and Mr. Elliott for their contributions. I read their submission before coming to the meeting and in light of it and what they said earlier, I would like to try to get a politics or tribal-ethnic complexities involved. The word "government" is applied in order to apply pressure on the NGO sector. Will our guests explain the political context of what is involved? South...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: GOAL Programmes in South Sudan: CEO of GOAL (18 Feb 2015)

Eric Byrne: I was referring to the briefing note which states that by 2005, decades of fighting had claimed 2.5 million lives.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: GOAL Programmes in South Sudan: CEO of GOAL (18 Feb 2015)

Eric Byrne: By any standards, the numbers involved are huge. The figure of 500,000 for the number of refugees involved is a testament to that. The briefing note refers to the conclusion of a comprehensive peace agreement in 2005 following decades of fighting which claimed over 2.5 million lives.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: GOAL Programmes in South Sudan: CEO of GOAL (18 Feb 2015)

Eric Byrne: Our guests stated that this matter is not attracting much publicity and they thanked us for putting it on our agenda. That is great but an article in The Irish Timesearlier in the week suggests that both sides in the conflict are recruiting child soldiers. Will Mr. Andrews indicate whether this is a tribal war or a civil war? Will he also outline how ethnicity is defined? The EU has...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: GOAL Programmes in South Sudan: CEO of GOAL (18 Feb 2015)

Eric Byrne: Is there a government? Is it just based in Juba or does it have any control elsewhere? Is there a civil war? I cannot get my head around the degree of conflict as the death toll is so vast. Does the government have any influence outside the capital?

Order of Business (19 Feb 2015)

Eric Byrne: The Minister is aware that the Latvian Government is very critical of the Irish State because it seems to think we facilitate sham marriages with Latvian girls here in the Republic. I understand that the Civil Registration (Amendment) Act 2014 has been published, however, I am told that in order to prevent these sham marriages which are of concern to the Latvians and to us we need to...

Leaders' Questions (24 Feb 2015)

Eric Byrne: He would prefer to speak in Irish.