Results 2,061-2,080 of 7,777 for speaker:Joe Costello

Topical Issue Debate: Health Service Staff (31 Jan 2013)

Joe Costello: I thank the Deputy for those additional remarks. The HSE working group comprises principal psychologists, service managers and human resource professionals. They concluded that educational psychologists would be able to operate solely in the area in which they have expertise. They agreed the same for counselling psychologists but stated clinical psychologists could work with client groups...

Topical Issue Debate: Syrian Civil War (31 Jan 2013)

Joe Costello: I thank the Deputies for those remarks. Yesterday I also met with the director general of UNICEF, the director general of the UN World Food Programme and with Commissioner Georgieva, to discuss how aid can be delivered and the role of non-governmental organisations. It is now easier to get essential aid into Syria. I also met Dr. al-Khatib at the Friends of Syria conference in December....

Topical Issue Debate: Syrian Civil War (31 Jan 2013)

Joe Costello: I thank Deputies Phelan and Smith for raising this issue. I agree that this is one of the most serious issues facing the entire world at present. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Tánaiste and I have all been trying to engage in respect of it as much as possible. I am pleased to be able to respond to this debate, having only just returned to Ireland a few hours ago...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Harbours and Piers (31 Jan 2013)

Joe Costello: The reports commissioned by the Minister indicate that 80% of the harbour sediment contains TBT. The Minister has engaged consultants to consider the options for dealing with the TBT and expects to receive their report in the coming months. The Minister will then be in a position to address the matter properly.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Tax Code (31 Jan 2013)

Joe Costello: I will reply briefly. We are not likely to revisit the legislation at this point. It has already been debated and is due to come into application at the beginning of July. A decision was made on the present system of taxation, which will have the benefit of ensuring a regular supply of funding for local authorities. Those of us who were local authority members for many years found funding...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Harbours and Piers (31 Jan 2013)

Joe Costello: I thank the Senator for tabling this motion on the Adjournment. The harbour at Dunmore East is one of the six designated fishery harbour centres owned, managed and maintained by the Department. Funding is made available on an annual basis by the Department to the fishery harbour centres, including Dunmore East, via the fishery harbour and coastal infrastructure capital development...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Coastal Erosion (31 Jan 2013)

Joe Costello: I will follow up on these items and ensure the Minister is informed of the Senator's remarks. I cannot give the Senator the details but I understand the application is for the study but this will take place rapidly. The consultants have been asked to identify two specific areas of erosion at the southern end which can be dealt with as quickly as possible.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Tax Code (31 Jan 2013)

Joe Costello: I thank Senator Thomas Byrne for tabling this Adjournment matter. The introduction of the local property tax will deliver significant economic and fiscal reform through broadening the revenue base to pay for vital public services in a manner that does not directly impact on employment. It will be fair and progressive, with the owners of the most valuable properties paying the most property...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Coastal Erosion (31 Jan 2013)

Joe Costello: I thank Senator Darragh O'Brien for raising this very important matter. I know the area well and appreciate the importance of protecting a very valuable amenity. Responsibility for addressing the erosion problem at Portrane rests with Fingal County Council and I am aware that the council is treating this matter very seriously. Coastal erosion is a natural and ongoing process and it only...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Disaster Response (31 Jan 2013)

Joe Costello: The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through Irish Aid has been in communication with the founders of the organisation referred by the Deputy on a number of occasions since August 2012. In my own correspondence with the organisation, I have acknowledged the importance of strengthening access to ICT infrastructure in the immediate aftermath of natural disasters. The organisation...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (31 Jan 2013)

Joe Costello: This covered all funding for the Government’s aid programme, including the long term programmes of strategic assistance in Irish Aid’s nine programme countries, administered by our diplomatic missions in those countries. The newspaper report referred to by the Deputy relates to information released by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in response to a request under the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Humanitarian Aid (29 Jan 2013)

Joe Costello: I propose to take Questions Nos. 196 to 198, inclusive, together. The World Conference on Disaster Reduction was held in Kobe, Japan in January 2005. The tangible outcome from the conference was a commitment by 168 UN Member States, including Ireland, to strengthen preparedness and minimise vulnerability to disasters through the agreement of a ten-year action plan called the Hyogo Framework...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Public Service Reform Plan Update (29 Jan 2013)

Joe Costello: The Government’s Public Sector Reform Plan does not include any body under the auspices of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade that is to be rationalised, amalgamated or abolished. However, the Development Education Advisory Committee was included in the list of bodies for critical review. This review took place in the context of the recent Review of the White Paper on Irish...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Research Funding (23 Jan 2013)

Joe Costello: My Department has been in communication with the individual referred to in the correspondence supplied by the Deputy on a number of occasions since August 2012. I initially wrote to the correspondent in August last year, the first of a series of replies. In this letter, I acknowledged his particular interest in the important work of strengthening access to ICT infrastructure in the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (22 Jan 2013)

Joe Costello: Ireland’s aid programme has been recognised internationally for its focus on poverty and hunger, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, and for its leadership in making aid more effective. The practice of tying aid to the purchase of goods and services of the donor country has long been recognised as reducing the effectiveness and efficiency of development co-operation programmes, as...

Social Welfare (Amnesty) Bill 2012: Second Stage [Private Members] (18 Jan 2013)

Joe Costello: That is the reason we are very reluctant to go down that road again.

Social Welfare (Amnesty) Bill 2012: Second Stage [Private Members] (18 Jan 2013)

Joe Costello: I compliment Deputy Ó Snodaigh on his introduction of this Bill. It is a useful proposal. I am aware of the Deputy's interest in dealing with social welfare fraud, and it is important that we discuss how we might best deal with a matter of this nature. The effective investigations that took place last year resulted in the identification of €645 million in overpayments of one...

Other Questions: Overseas Development Aid (16 Jan 2013)

Joe Costello: The appointment of a chief financial officer is under discussion with the Department. There is not yet a final outcome in this matter, but there should be one soon. On communicating the good news relating to overseas development assistance, we have established a new website - it went live just after Christmas - which makes it possible to obtain current information on everything taking...

Other Questions: Overseas Development Aid (16 Jan 2013)

Joe Costello: What we have in mind is to build on what is already in existence, such as Voluntary Service Overseas and Comhlámh, which are involved in volunteering initiatives to which anybody can apply and put forward their names, whether they are students, working people or otherwise. Non-governmental organisations also very often look for volunteers. In the context of the commitment in the...

Other Questions: Overseas Development Aid (16 Jan 2013)

Joe Costello: I am looking at this with a whole-Government approach. There are just as many potential volunteers in the Garda and the Defence Forces, in Revenue and right across the board, in particular in the area of agriculture which is very relevant to impoverished countries where there is a high degree of agricultural involvement. I would like to see this programme operating right across the board,...