Results 15,281-15,300 of 15,491 for speaker:Eamon Gilmore

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Affairs Council: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (25 Jun 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: What I will do is try to answer the questions thematically. If I miss individual questions I will happily follow them up if members wish. The general theme referred to by Deputies Smith, O’Sullivan, Durkan and Byrne was the growing number of conflicts in the world at present. Deputy O’Sullivan drew an analogy between the enthusiasm of people in countries that have been long...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Affairs Council: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (25 Jun 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: I am not in a position to give an assessment of that. One point of which members should be aware is that what happened in Iraq caused a considerable degree of surprise. My understanding of what has happened in Iraq is there is a loose coalition of ISIS, former Ba'athist Party people and those who simply are opposed the government there for one reason or another. While it is not just ISIS,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Affairs Council: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (25 Jun 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: I do not believe any conflict can be reduced to a simple "one side and the other" situation. There is no doubt but that there is a strong sectarian dimension to the conflict. Moreover, agendas undoubtedly are being pursued both by actors in the conflict itself and by those who seek to influence them. There undoubtedly are strategic issues involved, as well as economic issues that come into...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Affairs Council: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (25 Jun 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: I will be obliged to revert directly to Senator Daly as I do not have a note on this issue to hand. However, I will get back to him with a direct reply.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Affairs Council: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (25 Jun 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: I attended a separate informal dinner meeting on the evening before the Foreign Affairs Council that was arranged by my colleague, the Foreign Minister of Luxembourg. We had the opportunity to have a discussion with the representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross, who spoke to us in considerable detail about the practical difficulties in getting aid through. The...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (26 Jun 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: The Passport Service provides a comprehensive range of options for citizens to apply for passports. An appointment service has been in operation at the Molesworth Street Passport Office for over a year. The service allows customers to book via a simple web based system a guaranteed time slot between 9:00 and 17:00, Monday to Friday. The service removes the necessity for any citizen to...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: International Relations (26 Jun 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: I have not received any representations on the subject of the Deputy’s question nor had any discussions with the British authorities in regard to the presence of a harp on the royal coat of arms. I am however happy to assure the Deputy that the sensitivities around the use of flags and symbols is a matter to which I give very careful attention in my work to promote peace and...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Undocumented Irish in the USA (26 Jun 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: I visited Washington D.C. over the period 17-19 June for various meetings in relation to U.S. immigration reform, which remains a key Government priority. My programme included separate discussions with Cong. Luis Gutierrez, Cong. Paul Ryan, Senator Pat Leahy, members of the Congressional Friends of Ireland Group, House Judiciary Committee Member Cong. Mark Amodei, Cong. Mario Diaz-Balart,...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: European Council Meetings (26 Jun 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: As the Deputy will be aware I attended the most recent meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) in Luxembourg on Monday 23 June. The agenda was a very busy one with discussions dominated in the main by the latest events in Ukraine and developments in the EU's Southern Neighbourhood, notably Iraq and Libya; a number of other items were addressed at the end of the Council meeting. The...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: International Agreements (1 Jul 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: The Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights opened for signature by UN Member States in New York in September 2009. To date, 45 states have signed the Optional Protocol. This includes 11 of the 28 European Union Member States. 15 states have ratified the Optional Protocol: Argentina, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cap Verde, Ecuador,...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Honorary Titles (1 Jul 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: Since 2000, we are aware of eight cases where titles of nobility or of honour were conferred on Irish citizens by another State, one in 2001, two in 2005, one in 2008, two in 2013 and two in 2014. In all eight cases, we understand that the persons concerned were also citizens of the State conferring the awards. The prior approval of Government was sought and granted in all cases, except one....

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights Issues (1 Jul 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: The Government continues to closely follow the situation of the Rohingya people in Myanmar/Burma and those who have left Myanmar/Burma for neighbouring states. I am aware of the UNHCR’s estimates that more than 86,000 persons have left Myanmar/ Burma on boats since June 2012. I am also aware of the continuing problem of internally displaced peoples within Myanmar. Ireland together with...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Military Aircraft Landings (1 Jul 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: The Air Navigation (Foreign Military Aircraft) Order 1952 gives the Minister for Foreign Affairs primary responsibility for the regulation of activity by foreign military aircraft in Ireland. My Department grants permission for the landing of foreign military aircraft at Shannon Airport subject to conditions that apply to landings at Irish airports by foreign military aircraft; namely that...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Diplomatic Representation (1 Jul 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: Brazil has made remarkable progress in terms of economic growth and social development since its return to democracy a little over 25 years ago. Notably, and very positively, Brazil has developed and delivered policies that have lifted an estimated 40 million people from poverty. Large sporting events such as the World Cup have enormous potential to benefit widely the societies in which they...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (1 Jul 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: The crisis in Ukraine was a major focus of discussions at the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) last week, which I attended. Ministers were briefed on the current situation by the new Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Pavel Klimkin, who presented his President’s peace plan and called for our support. In our conclusions, we welcomed the plan as a major chance for de-escalation and...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Commemorative Events (1 Jul 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: The centenary of the Rising in 2016 will be the centre-piece of the Government’s decade of commemorations programme. The format and programme for the 2016 commemoration in Dublin is still under consideration. In September 2013, in my speech to the British-Irish Association, I noted a responsibility to be attentive and respectful of all traditions on this island in our approach to the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Middle East Peace Process (1 Jul 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: I propose to take Questions Nos. 104 and 106 to 108, inclusive, together. Direct negotiations between the parties were suspended at the end of April, and there is no immediate prospect of the talks being resumed. The essential issues behind the breakdown were the profound lack of trust between the two sides, insufficient political commitment, particularly by the Israeli Government, to...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Application Refusals (1 Jul 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: All passport applications are subject to the provision of Passports Act, 2008 (the Act). The issue of a passport is, therefore, the culmination of an important and legally-binding process. The checks and balances within the passport process embrace the standard principles that are provided for in the Act and help to ensure that the person in question is an Irish citizen andthat the identity...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Northern Ireland Issues (2 Jul 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: I have already welcomed the resumption on 2 June of the party leaders’ talks in Belfast. The party leaders this week will hold the first of two intensive three day sessions with a view to narrowing the remaining gaps between them and for developing the practical mechanisms and related timeframe for implementation. They will hold a second three day session next week from 8 July to 10...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Northern Ireland Issues (2 Jul 2014)

Eamon Gilmore: Both Governments, and certainly the Irish Government, are very close to these talks and I have made it my business and the business of the Irish Government to remain in very close contact with the party leaders and with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in regard to these talks. The talks were established by the First Minister and Deputy First Minister on the decision of the...