Results 1,561-1,580 of 2,792 for speaker:Colm Brophy

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (26 Nov 2020)

Colm Brophy: The conflict which began in 2015 is the principal cause of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, impacting on its capacity to address other serious problems such as flooding, cholera and COVID 19. Along with the UN and the EU, Ireland believes that the only way to bring about a long-term sustainable improvement in Yemen is through a negotiated end to the conflict. The UN’s repeated recent...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (26 Nov 2020)

Colm Brophy: Development co-operation needs to be people-centric and respond to national priorities. Promoting national ownership is one of the key principles of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. Ownership is the best strategy to guarantee that development investments succeed, and has the best opportunity of reaching the furthest behind first. Ireland’s eleven Embassies in Sub...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Election Monitoring Missions (26 Nov 2020)

Colm Brophy: I propose to take Questions Nos. 255 and 256 together. I refer the Deputy to the response to Parliamentary Question No. 113 of 11 November, as well as in the Information Note on the Overseas Election Observation Roster prepared for the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade (JCFATD), where these issues have been comprehensively addressed and which is attached to this response, and,...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights (1 Dec 2020)

Colm Brophy: Ireland is strongly committed to promotion and protection of human rights, including the right to peaceful demonstration. The #EndSARS protests in Nigeria, which took place in a number of cities including Abuja and Lagos, were in reaction to allegations of excessive use of force and other abuses committed by a unit of the Nigerian police, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) police unit....

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights (3 Dec 2020)

Colm Brophy: Ireland is strongly committed to the promotion and protection of human rights, including the right to peaceful demonstration. The #EndSARS protests in Nigeria, which took place in a number of cities including Abuja and Lagos, were in reaction to allegations of excessive use of force and other abuses committed by a unit of the Nigerian police, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) police unit....

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Northern Ireland (9 Dec 2020)

Colm Brophy: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. Lost Lives, which chronicles all the 3,700 people who were killed in the conflict, is a truly invaluable resource. In documenting each name, life and family, it is a work of both extraordinary scholarship and great empathy and inspires that empathy in all those who read it. Although those lives were tragically cut short, they will always be...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Northern Ireland (9 Dec 2020)

Colm Brophy: Again, I thank the Deputy for his comments in response.It is important to acknowledge the key point that it is not a controversial book. Lost Livesserves as a powerful reminder that we must continue to work towards deeper reconciliation and that all we do is to heal the wounds we can. That is obviously done through the process of acknowledgement of the most painful parts of our history and...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (9 Dec 2020)

Colm Brophy: The organisation in question was awarded a one-year grant of €250,000 under the 2018 Civil Society Fund for their project to improve access to early childcare and education and protection in Ethiopia. As far as my Department is aware, the organisation was not under statutory investigation at the time of the grant award. The Charities Regulatory Authority appointed investigators to...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Irish Aid (9 Dec 2020)

Colm Brophy: Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) partners of the Department of Foreign Affairs, funded through 'Irish Aid', the Government's official development cooperation programme are expected to comply with the Charities Regulatory Authority Governance Code and guidance.  They are also expected to promote best practice in the delivery of aid and in this regard must also be signatories to, and...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (10 Dec 2020)

Colm Brophy: I remain deeply concerned by the ongoing armed conflict between the Federal Government of Ethiopia and the regional authorities in Tigray, including reports of atrocities and targeting of ethnic groups. There are credible allegations of mass casualties and of human rights abuses, although the ongoing communications blackout has made it very difficult to verify information.  ...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Election Monitoring Missions (15 Dec 2020)

Colm Brophy: I propose to take Questions Nos. 292 and 293 together. The Department of Foreign Affairs enables participation by Irish citizens in overseas election observation missions organised by the EU and the OSCE through nomination of volunteers from our Election Observation Roster. The current roster (2019-2023) was mustered through an open, competitive application process in 2018. Although Ireland...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights (15 Dec 2020)

Colm Brophy: I am aware of the case raised by the Deputy. The person whose details are supplied is a child who was sentenced to ten years in prison by a Sharia Court in the State of Kano, northern Nigeria, following a conviction for blasphemy handed down on 10 August. Following the sentencing, on 16 September UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, called on the Nigerian Government and the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: United Nations Population Fund (17 Dec 2020)

Colm Brophy: I propose to take Questions Nos. 360 and 361 together. Ireland is the 14th largest core contributor to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the 24th largest contributor overall, in line with the priority which the Government's policy on international development, A Better World, attaches to gender. The question of additional core contributions to UNFPA is reviewed periodically, in...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Election Monitoring Missions (17 Dec 2020)

Colm Brophy: I propose to take Questions Nos. 362 and 363 together. I refer the Deputy to the response to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 292 and 293 of 15 December 2020. As well as the Information Note on the Overseas Election Observation Roster prepared for the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade (JCFATD) and the Composite Note published on the election observation pages of the Irish Aid website,...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: International Agreements (13 Jan 2021)

Colm Brophy: Ireland has welcomed the Covid-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP). Consultations are ongoing across relevant Government Departments which look forward to receiving additional information on the Technology Access Pool with a view to considering practical engagement. The European Commission, on behalf of Member States, is engaging with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to obtain the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Irish Aid (13 Jan 2021)

Colm Brophy: My Department, through Irish Aid, has responded to the devastation caused by the hurricanes in November in Nicaragua and across much of the Central American region. I would like to express my solidarity with all those affected. Ireland, though Irish Aid, contributes to the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF), which provides immediate support to Caribbean countries...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Election Monitoring Missions (13 Jan 2021)

Colm Brophy: I refer the Deputy to the response to the Information Note on the Overseas Election Observation Roster prepared for the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade (JCFATD) and the Composite Note published on the election observation pages of the Irish Aid website, where the issues raised here have been comprehensively addressed and which are attached to this response. Matters pertaining to...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Election Monitoring Missions (13 Jan 2021)

Colm Brophy: The Department has checked its records, which do not appear to indicate a person of that name put themselves forward for consideration for membership of the volunteer Election Observation Roster under the most recent mustering. My officials would be happy to follow up with the Deputy directly.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Covid-19 Pandemic (13 Jan 2021)

Colm Brophy: The Covid-19 pandemic and the global search for a vaccine has demonstrated the importance of pooling resources, scientific information and knowledge in order to protect people, including in poorer countries. Any endeavour to enhance resources available, and share relevant knowledge, should be welcomed and supported. During this public health crisis, a well-functioning ecosystem for the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Policy (13 Jan 2021)

Colm Brophy: The conflict in Syria has triggered the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. Refugees from Syria are the biggest refugee population from a single conflict in a generation, with over 5.5 million having fled to neighbouring countries. Lebanon, with over 1.5 million Syrian refugees, hosts the largest numbers of refugees per capita in the world, 20 per cent of its population. The...