Results 14,381-14,400 of 15,491 for speaker:Eamon Gilmore

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Legislative Process RIA (19 Dec 2013)

Eamon Gilmore: Regulatory Impact Assessments are carried out on all legislation as necessary. However, most of the legislation brought forward by my Department does not impact significantly on the regulatory environment and since March 2011 no Regulatory Impact Assessments have been carried out by my Department. I have sponsored two items of legislation - the European Communities (Amendment) Bill 2012 and...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Bodies (19 Dec 2013)

Eamon Gilmore: There are no organisations of the type referred to by the Deputy under the aegis of my Department.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Bodies (19 Dec 2013)

Eamon Gilmore: There are no State boards, agencies or regulators operating under the aegis of my Department.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Northern Ireland Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, together. As Deputies are aware, the panel of parties talks on parades, flags and contending with the past, under the chairmanship of Dr. Richard Haass and the vice chairmanship of Dr. Meghan O’Sullivan, concluded in the early hours of New Year's Eve. I commend Dr. Haass and Dr. O'Sullivan on the energy, commitment and vision they...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Northern Ireland Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: There has been hands on involvement by the Government in these talks. From the very moment Dr. Haass and Dr. O'Sullivan were appointed, we were in contact with them. I met with them before they commenced their work and on a number of occasions while they were doing their work. Over the Christmas to new year period when the talks were in their intensive stage, I was in regular telephone...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Northern Ireland Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: I do not agree with that portrayal of it. I think that is inaccurate. The Irish Government was directly involved in this process. The Deputy must remember this process was initiated in Northern Ireland. This proposal was made by the First Minister and the Deputy First Minister, involving all the five political parties in the Northern Ireland Executive. The parties in Northern Ireland,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Northern Ireland Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: As the Deputy has acknowledged, the prisoners issue was not directly involved in the recent talks. She is aware I have raised a number of these issues with the Secretary of State and the Minister of Justice in Northern Ireland. As she knows, some of these cases are at different stages in various court and review processes. Obviously, we have to be mindful of where they are in the court...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Northern Ireland Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: Lest there be any doubt about it, the Government is involved. It is not true, as Deputy Smith suggests, that the Government became involved at the end of this process. At this time last year, along with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Ms Theresa Villiers, MP, I met the First Minister and Deputy First Minister at a time when the flags protest was in a very difficult situation....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Foreign Conflicts (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: There are approximately 80 Irish citizens who have registered with my Department and who are resident in Syria. We have been advising all Irish citizens to leave Syria since March 2012. Ireland has provided in excess of €14 million in assistance since the crisis began. The total includes support to NGOs partners as well as to members of the Red Cross or Red Crescent and six different...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Foreign Conflicts (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: This is the biggest humanitarian crisis of our time. That is reflected in the fact that the call from the United Nations for $5.2 billion in humanitarian assistance is the largest call for humanitarian assistance in the entire history of the United Nations. The official figure is 120,000 but we know that may be an underestimate of the number of people killed in this conflict. There are 9...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Foreign Conflicts (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: First, we have to recognise that the EU, with its member states, has been, by some distance, the biggest single donor in terms of humanitarian assistance to Syria. The EU has also been very active in seeking a settlement and support for the Geneva II talks process. Ireland, on a per capita basis, is at the top end of the donors on humanitarian aid. However, the need is huge, at a number of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Human Rights Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: I have seen a number of reports relating to this matter. The precise details involved are somewhat confused, and some media reporting may be inaccurate. Nonetheless, there is evidence of unacceptable treatment. Most media reports seem to follow a report from the NGO, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, but the actual report of that NGO does not mention children. There is a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Human Rights Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: As I understand it, the reports were of cages that were used to hold prisoners before they were taken to court or while a search was under way. My information is that the Israeli justice minister has ordered a discontinuation of that practice. There are wider issues relating to detention that we raise. I am concerned that rather than being extraordinary measures that are only applied in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Human Rights Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: The mistreatment of Palestinian children by Israeli forces in the occupied territories has been a matter of deep concern to us. Ireland with its EU partners has conveyed this concern directly to the Israeli authorities. We feel that this has had some result as the age of criminal responsibility for Palestinian children was raised in 2012 to the same age as that for Israeli children, as...

Other Questions: Northern Ireland Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: I have read Ms Cadwallader's book, Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland. It is important to say that the 1972-78 period, which forms the backdrop to the book, was a dark one in the history of Northern Ireland and our island as a whole. While the book concentrates on sectarian attacks on the Nationalist community, the author acknowledges that the agony in those dark days was by no...

Other Questions: Northern Ireland Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: Like Deputy Smith, I have met with some of the relatives of the victims of these murders. I met Denise Mullen in Armagh last November and talked with her about her memory, the many other murders that were committed and the suffering it has caused subsequently for families. The families and survivors want to find out the truth. The outcome of the Haass process has produced the framework...

Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: I propose to take Questions Nos. 7, 81 and 91 together. I share the concern about the dangerous situation in the Central African Republic. At the last meeting of the foreign affairs Council on 16 December, I welcomed the decision of the United Nations to upgrade the crisis in the country to a Level III emergency, which should facilitate increased delivery of humanitarian aid. I also...

Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: I expect we will discuss the situation in the Cental African Republic at the Foreign Affairs Council next Monday. I welcome the adoption by the United Nations Security Council on 5 December 2013 of Resolution 2127. It authorised the deployment of an African Union-led peacekeeping force for 12 months, and the deployment of French forces to support the African Union mission. At a conference...

Other Questions: Foreign Conflicts (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: Ireland's approach to this issue is, first, to concentrate on the humanitarian assistance we can provide. I have indicated that we are doing that. Second, we are urging that this be dealt with through a UN mechanism. A possible European Union common security and defence policy, CSDP, mission, maybe as some kind of an interim measure pending a UN mission, has been given some consideration....

Other Questions: Undocumented Irish in the USA (15 Jan 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 and 22 together. This is an issue to which I accord very high priority. I am conscious of the difficulties experienced by Irish citizens who are undocumented in the United States and I have met and spoken with many of them on my working visits there and also with the various groups who lobby on their behalf. I have maintained contact, directly and...