Results 2,201-2,220 of 7,777 for speaker:Joe Costello

Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (19 Jun 2012)

Joe Costello: The Government's aid programme, which is managed by Irish Aid in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, is sharply focused on the fight against global poverty and hunger. It is recognised internationally for its effectiveness, and for its concentration on some of the poorest countries and communities in sub-Saharan Africa. Cooperation with development Non-Governmental Organisations...

Written Answers — Official Engagements: Official Engagements (19 Jun 2012)

Joe Costello: My visit to West Africa between the 1st and the 8th of June 2012 provided me with an invaluable opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the considerable challenges facing Sierra Leone and Liberia and to see first-hand the contribution being made by Ireland through Irish Aid to both countries. The visit also included a short stop-over in Accra Ghana to view the UN Humanitarian Depot,...

Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (14 Jun 2012)

Joe Costello: I thank Deputies Mitchell and Anne Ferris for raising this matter. It is accepted internationally, and the Government agrees, that the provision of reproductive health services to women is essential in tackling the continuing high rates of maternal mortality in the developing world. These include pre-natal and postnatal care, emergency obstetric services and access to family planning...

Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (14 Jun 2012)

Joe Costello: I thank the Deputies for their remarks. These are issues of life and death for mothers and children. Maternal, child care and gender issues have always been central to the Irish Aid programme and will continue to be so while I am Minister of State. We have a key role in preparing for the post-2015 millennium development goals. The review will start during our Presidency and the first...

Foreign Conflicts (13 Jun 2012)

Joe Costello: I thank Deputies Ann Phelan and Ó Fearghaíl for raising this urgent matter. The Government shares the concern of all right-thinking people at the escalating conflict in Syria which is now estimated to have claimed well over 10,000 lives in the past 15 months. There has been particular revulsion at the massacre in Houla on 25 and 26 May where more than 100 people, including 49 children,...

Foreign Conflicts (13 Jun 2012)

Joe Costello: I thank the Deputies for their supplementary contributions. It is certainly an extraordinarily frustrating situation. Virtually the entire world is pleading for a resolution to this matter. It is a savage civil war. More than 10,000 lives have already been lost and children appear to have been very much to the fore in suffering from the savage acts that have occurred. There are huge...

Modification of Standing Orders: Motion (13 Jun 2012)

Joe Costello: I move: That, pursuant to Standing Order 177, Standing Order 131(2) is hereby modified for the purpose of providing that the debate on the Instruction to Select Committee motion regarding the European Communities (Amendment) Bill 2012 shall be 20 minutes instead of 'not less than 60 minutes as the House may order'.

European Communities (Amendment) Bill 2012: Motion to Instruct Select Committee (13 Jun 2012)

Joe Costello: I move: That, pursuant to Standing Order 131, it be an instruction to the Select Committee on European Union Affairs that it has power to make provision in the European Communities (Amendment) Bill 2012 to amend the European Communities Act 1972 to include in the definition of 'treaties governing the European Union' the Treaty concerning the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the...

Seanad: Certificate of Irish Heritage Scheme (12 Jun 2012)

Joe Costello: I thank the Acting Chairman, Senator Pat O'Neill, and Senator Bacik for their words of welcome. I also welcome Senator Bacik's remarks in support of the Irish heritage certificate scheme. Since coming to office in March 2011, the Government has repeatedly stated its belief that our diaspora can make a meaningful contribution to Ireland's economic recovery. The Gathering, the Global Irish...

Seanad: Certificate of Irish Heritage Scheme (12 Jun 2012)

Joe Costello: While I cannot provide a direct answer to the Senator's question, I will revert to her on the matter. I presume work is being done on this issue. A different Department is responsible for the Gathering and it deals with the marketing of the event. Marking and highlighting the Irish heritage of people is integral to the certificate of Irish heritage scheme. As the Gathering is focused on...

Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (6 Jun 2012)

Joe Costello: Ethiopia is one of the nine Programme Countries for the Government's aid programme, where we have a commitment to the provision of long term strategic assistance. One of the key aims of our development cooperation programme in Ethiopia is to support the increased use of basic social services such as health and education by its citizens. While the Government of Ethiopia has made substantial...

Private Members' Business. National Monuments: Motion (resumed) (23 May 2012)

Joe Costello: Sinn Féin should have stood up-----

Private Members' Business. National Monuments: Motion (resumed) (23 May 2012)

Joe Costello: You were blaming the Minister.

Private Members' Business. National Monuments: Motion (resumed) (23 May 2012)

Joe Costello: Deputy Ellis will say-----

Private Members' Business. National Monuments: Motion (resumed) (23 May 2012)

Joe Costello: Do not divide the House.

Private Members' Business. National Monuments: Motion (resumed) (23 May 2012)

Joe Costello: There were ten Sinn Féin councillors on Dublin City Council when those planning applications were going through and there was not a peep out of a single one of them. Those decisions were not made by the Minister. There were made by Dublin City Council by way of planning applications.

Private Members' Business. National Monuments: Motion (resumed) (23 May 2012)

Joe Costello: I welcome the opportunity to discuss this Private Members' motion. I compliment the various signatories to the motion as it gives us the opportunity to debate and find the best way to celebrate the centenary of the 1916 Rising. We all want to ensure it is commemorated in a respectful and dignified fashion and that the two monuments encompassed by this motion, in particular the national...

Written Answers — Economic Partnership Agreements: Economic Partnership Agreements (22 May 2012)

Joe Costello: The European Union is strongly committed to the promotion of sustainable and inclusive economic development in Africa. It employs a carefully differentiated approach to its engagement on trade with developing country partners. Since 2002, the EU has been negotiating a series of new Economic Partnership Agreements with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States. They were necessitated...

Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (22 May 2012)

Joe Costello: Combating global hunger and undernutrition is a central pillar of the Government's overseas development programme. We are making good progress on the implementation of the recommendations of the 2008 report of the Government's Hunger Task Force. Just last week, the Tánaiste and I announced that we have delivered on the commitment to direct at least 20 per cent of the Irish Aid budget to...

Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (22 May 2012)

Joe Costello: The theme of this year's session of the UN Commission on Population and Development was 'Adolescents and Youth'. This was particularly timely, given that the number of young people globally has now reached an all time high of 1.2 billion. The session focused on key challenges in meeting the sexual and reproductive health needs of young people and adolescents, in line with the commitments...