Results 44,741-44,760 of 51,089 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Written Answers — EU Presidency: EU Presidency (23 Apr 2009)

Micheál Martin: The coalition government led by Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek lost a vote of confidence in the Czech Parliament on 24 March, resulting in the automatic resignation of the Prime Minister, who continued in a caretaker capacity, pending the appointment of a Prime Minister by President Klaus. Negotiations between the two government parties and the Social Democrats, led by Mr. Jirí Paroubek,...

Written Answers — Human Rights Issues: Human Rights Issues (23 Apr 2009)

Micheál Martin: I am aware of the report of the visit to Spain in May 2008 by the Special Rapporteur on the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Mr. Martin Scheinin, which was presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on 10 March 2009. The Special Rapporteur noted that Spain has a vibrant democracy albeit with a continuing presence of domestic...

Written Answers — Human Rights Issues: Human Rights Issues (23 Apr 2009)

Micheál Martin: The situation of members of the minority Baha'i faith in Iran has long been a matter of serious concern to the Government and to members of the Oireachtas. There is in Iran no tolerance of the Baha'i faith, which is regarded as a heretical or apostate offshoot of Islam. In recent years, there has been a serious and progressive increase in harassment of individual Baha'is, and worrying...

Written Answers — Foreign Conflicts: Foreign Conflicts (23 Apr 2009)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 19, 23 and 47 together. I am very concerned by the situation in Somalia, which has been without an effective government since 1991. Since it was established in 2004, the UN-backed Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has made little headway in establishing effective control over the country's territory and restoring peace and security. Continuous...

Written Answers — EU Enlargement: EU Enlargement (23 Apr 2009)

Micheál Martin: Turkey has had a perspective towards membership of the European Union since the conclusion of the Association Agreement of 1963, although negotiations on accession did not open until 2005. Negotiations with Turkey are proceeding, albeit at a slow pace. Of the 35 negotiating chapters, ten are now open, of which one has been provisionally closed. In its 2008 assessment of Turkey's...

Written Answers — US Air Bases: US Air Bases (23 Apr 2009)

Micheál Martin: On 19 February, the Kyrgyz Parliament approved a government order to close the Manas air-base operated by the United States. Manas, which is the only US base in Central Asia, is a key transit point for supplies to US operations in Afghanistan. While the timing of the current announcement was a surprise, there have been question marks over the base's long-term survival since July 2005, when...

Written Answers — EU-US Summit: EU-US Summit (23 Apr 2009)

Micheál Martin: The meeting in Prague was an informal summit arranged by the Czech Presidency to enable the Heads of State and Government of the European Union and the President of the European Commission to meet President Obama on his first visit to Europe since taking office. The meeting in Prague on 5 April in Prague took place immediately after the G-20 Summit held in London on 2 April and the NATO...

Written Answers — US Policy Initiatives: US Policy Initiatives (23 Apr 2009)

Micheál Martin: The Embassy in Washington, in close co-ordination with the state agencies, has been monitoring all proposals for policy initiatives, under the new Administration, which could potentially impact on the Irish economy. The Embassy has been engaging with US policy makers on relevant issues as they arise. These include proposals in relation to taxation. One important issue in this regard is...

Written Answers — North-South Ministerial Council: North-South Ministerial Council (23 Apr 2009)

Micheál Martin: The issue of the establishment of the North-South Consultative Forum, provided for in the Good Friday Agreement, has been discussed with the Northern Ireland Executive within the framework of the North/South Ministerial Council on a number of occasions. At the first plenary meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council since the re-establishment of the Northern Ireland Executive, which took...

Written Answers — Foreign Conflicts: Foreign Conflicts (23 Apr 2009)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 28 and 49 together. I am aware of the case of the three Saharawi prisoners, Khallihanna Aboulhassan, Ali Salem Ablagh and Brahim Baryaz, who are understood to have been on hunger strike since mid-February. My Department is closely monitoring developments in relation to this case through our Embassy in Portugal which is also accredited to Morocco. We are...

Written Answers — Diplomatic Representation: Diplomatic Representation (23 Apr 2009)

Micheál Martin: I refer the Deputy to my replies to Priority Question No. 5 and Question No. 42 today, in which I dealt with relations with the new Israeli Government and our expectations of it. I have no immediate plans for a meeting with Foreign Minister Lieberman, although the next meeting of the EU-Israel Association Council on 18 May might provide such an opportunity. However, I look forward to...

Written Answers — Foreign Conflicts: Foreign Conflicts (23 Apr 2009)

Micheál Martin: As the Deputy will be aware, the relationship between the Russian Federation and Georgia was seriously affected by the conflict which broke out on 7-8 August 2008 in the Georgian separatist region of South Ossetia and by the decision by the Russian Federation to recognise the separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states. Direct contacts have been limited since that...

Written Answers — Foreign Conflicts: Foreign Conflicts (23 Apr 2009)

Micheál Martin: The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has long been notorious for gross human rights violations it has committed in its insurrection against the Government of Uganda over the last two decades, including murder, abduction, sexual enslavement, mutilation and kidnapping of young children to use as fighters. Several leading LRA figures, including its leader, Joseph Kony, have been indicted by the...

Written Answers — US Foreign Policy: US Foreign Policy (23 Apr 2009)

Micheál Martin: The Government welcomes the strong indications from the Obama Administration of its intention to engage with the international community, and to work co-operatively to address a range of issues of concern to countries around the world. Both President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton have made clear their readiness to bring a fresh perspective to many of the issues on the international...

Written Answers — Indian Elections: Indian Elections (23 Apr 2009)

Micheál Martin: Elections are currently under way in India, the world's largest democracy. With 700 million Indians eligible to vote (including some 43 million who will be voting for the first time), this will be the largest electoral exercise ever undertaken in any country. Given the scale of India and the size of the electorate, the elections are taking place in five phases. The first of these took...

Written Answers — Arms Trade: Arms Trade (23 Apr 2009)

Micheál Martin: The Government strongly supports the process of developing strict controls on arms and works actively to promote the objective of strengthening arms controls globally, particularly to areas of concern such as the Middle East. The Programme for Government commits us to supporting a binding and comprehensive global treaty on the arms trade, covering all weapons and ammunition. To this end,...

Written Answers — Human Rights Issues: Human Rights Issues (23 Apr 2009)

Micheál Martin: The political situation in Zimbabwe remains fragile, despite the formation of a power-sharing government in February involving President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). This new Government faces enormous challenges in delivering real progress for the people of Zimbabwe, including securing political freedoms, a return to the rule of law and...

Written Answers — Foreign Conflicts: Foreign Conflicts (23 Apr 2009)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 40, 50 and 52 together. As stated on many occasions in this House, most recently on 24 March and 22 April, I remain deeply concerned about the on-going conflict in Sri Lanka and in particular about the grave humanitarian situation there. Thanks to the efforts of the UN Secretary General and the Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, the Government...

Written Answers — Middle East Peace Process: Middle East Peace Process (23 Apr 2009)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 42, 58, 59, 148 and 149 together. In the wake of the conflict in Gaza and the ceasefires of 18 January, progress is urgently needed on a number of fronts both to relieve the effects of the conflict and to try and ensure it is not repeated. Firstly, it is frankly unacceptable that three months after the conflict we are still not seeing full and unimpeded access...

Written Answers — Treaty of Lisbon: Treaty of Lisbon (23 Apr 2009)

Micheál Martin: To date, twenty-three Member States have ratified the Treaty of Lisbon. Ireland is among the four Member States not to have done so. The others are Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. Of these, Germany and Poland have both completed their parliamentary procedures. Germany is awaiting the outcome of a legal challenge to the compatibility of the Treaty with its Constitution. The decision...