Results 43,661-43,680 of 50,917 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Haiti Earthquake. (30 Mar 2010)

Micheál Martin: Even if one is a very effective county manager in managing a multi-seat election in Ireland, that is a unique experience but it might not lend itself to some of the new post-electoral situations that emerge in conflict societies. It is a very good suggestion. We must also examine civil governance capacity. One of the big problems in Haiti is that almost the entire government and its...

Overseas Development Aid. (30 Mar 2010)

Micheál Martin: The Government is committed to giving effect to the recommendations of the report of the hunger task force which we commissioned and which was launched by the Taoiseach at the UN in New York in September 2008 in the presence of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. In particular, we continue to work on the three priority areas identified, namely, increasing smallholder agricultural...

Overseas Development Aid. (30 Mar 2010)

Micheál Martin: The main point is that we are on target to reach the target of 20% of our overall budget being spent on hunger. The other point is that it is not just in that programme that the money on hunger is spent. In Malawi, for example, the entire programme is now focused on hunger, while in Tanzania, we have been asked by all the other donors to become the lead donor on agriculture....

Overseas Development Aid. (30 Mar 2010)

Micheál Martin: Those three targeted areas covered the programme country budgets as well. As I said, we have prioritised the hunger aspect. There may be other aspects of the programme apart from hunger that will not do as well as the area of hunger, given the focus on it, but increasing smallholder agricultural productivity will not suffer, for example.

Overseas Development Aid. (30 Mar 2010)

Micheál Martin: The Governments of each region and country have to make their decisions in regard to the issue of GM food, as does the European Union. In many underdeveloped parts of the world, by any observation, GM could very well provide part of the solution. However, our assistance concerns the more conventional form of crop production, improved agricultural techniques and improving the lot of the...

Overseas Development Aid. (30 Mar 2010)

Micheál Martin: I agree. On this issue, I refer Deputy Creighton to the hunger task force report. In our recent discussions with the US Secretary of State, Mrs. Clinton, the focus was on how we can enhance agricultural crop production techniques for smallholders, the vast majority of whom are women. In an earlier portfolio, I commissioned the Chief Scientific Adviser to prepare a paper on GM. It is good...

Overseas Development Aid. (30 Mar 2010)

Micheál Martin: The small farmers of west Cork produce a robust and resilient crop.

Passport Security. (30 Mar 2010)

Micheál Martin: The first indication we received of the use of false Irish passports in connection with the killing of Mr. Mahmoud al Mabhouh was on 4 February, when local press reports in Dubai stated that several suspects were believed to have entered Dubai on Irish passports. The ambassador of Ireland to the United Arab Emirates, Mr. Ciarán Madden, immediately contacted the United Arab Emirates Ministry...

Passport Security. (30 Mar 2010)

Micheál Martin: I agree with the Deputy that it is outrageous that fake Irish passports were used in this murder. In six of the eight cases, they used real passport numbers that corresponded with the numbers on passports in Ireland and, therefore, the security of the citizens concerned was at risk. When I met Foreign Minister Mr. Lieberman, we made it clear how seriously we took the issue and how...

Passport Security. (30 Mar 2010)

Micheál Martin: I do not have an exact timeframe for the conclusion of the investigation. It will be complete in a reasonably short time from now but that is a matter for the investigating authority. With regard to the line of investigation, the question posed by the Deputy is obvious and work has been done in endeavouring to establish whether there was a link between the six citizens involved. There does...

Passport Security. (30 Mar 2010)

Micheál Martin: No.

Middle East Peace Process. (30 Mar 2010)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 70 and 72 together. My discussions in Washington with the Secretary of State Mrs. Clinton provided a welcome and timely opportunity to discuss with her the issues of the Middle East, which are high priorities for the EU and the US, both individually and as members of the international Quartet. I briefed Mrs. Clinton on my recent visit to Gaza. She updated me...

Middle East Peace Process. (30 Mar 2010)

Micheál Martin: I agree with much of what Deputy Higgins has outlined. The size of the population of children in Gaza is striking. The sight of children everywhere is one of the most immediately visible scenes there. What is more alarming is the number of malnourished children. In spite of the outstanding work by UNRWA the basic food supplies it makes available are not sufficient to deal with the issue....

Middle East Peace Process. (30 Mar 2010)

Micheál Martin: I agree with what the Deputy has outlined in terms of the illegality of settlements which are contrary to international law. The fundamental problem is that the facts on the ground continue to feed scepticism on the Palestinian side that the Israeli Government is open to a deal. On the other hand, I put on record that when I went to Egypt, which is the subject matter of a later question,...

Passport Applications. (30 Mar 2010)

Micheál Martin: As the Deputy is aware, customers have been experiencing disruption to passport services as a result of ongoing industrial action in the public service. The industrial action has led to a backlog of over 50,000 passport applications in the system and the application turnaround time is currently 15 to 20 working days. As a result, the Department advises it is not possible to fast-track any...

Passport Applications. (30 Mar 2010)

Micheál Martin: Ryanair.

Passport Applications. (30 Mar 2010)

Micheál Martin: What was the Deputy's question?

Passport Applications. (30 Mar 2010)

Micheál Martin: I refer to the question before that.

Passport Applications. (30 Mar 2010)

Micheál Martin: It is on the record in that case. As I said in my opening remarks, I call on the CPSU to call off the action immediately. We concluded the public sector talks that were under way at Croke Park. In that context, there is every reason for the union to instruct its members to call off the action. If this happened, we could return to normal activity within a matter of days. The key issue for...

Passport Applications. (30 Mar 2010)

Micheál Martin: We have about three specialised machines that are, for security reasons, unique to the country from the viewpoint of manufacture. Contingency planning is involved in the event of breakdown or whatever. In terms of extending the validity of all existing passports, again there are standards with regard to international travel documents which limit passports to ten years, and therefore it is...