Results 45,121-45,140 of 50,917 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Written Answers — International Agreements: International Agreements (6 Nov 2008)

Micheál Martin: Israel is a key partner of the European Union in the Mediterranean, and an active member of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. The relationship between the EU and Israel is governed mainly by the EU-Israel Association Agreement and its associated Action Plan. The eighth annual meeting of the EU-Israel Association Council was held in June 2008, and the current EU-Israel Action Plan is due...

Written Answers — Diplomatic Representation: Diplomatic Representation (6 Nov 2008)

Micheál Martin: The relationship between Ireland and the United States is deep, close and enduring. Successive Presidents and their Administrations, and Ireland's many friends on Capitol Hill from both sides of the aisle, have made an enormous contribution to bringing peace and economic prosperity to this island. Following the US Presidential election on 4 November 2008, the President and Taoiseach have...

Written Answers — Diplomatic Representation: Diplomatic Representation (6 Nov 2008)

Micheál Martin: The presidential campaign in the United States has just concluded. President Barack Obama will take up office on 20 January 2009 and the new Congress will meet for the first time on 6 January 2009. The campaign of the President-elect put forward a range of proposals on the US economy, trade and taxation. However, it is too early to know how these proposals will take shape and, therefore,...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (6 Nov 2008)

Micheál Martin: My Department monitors absence through the Civil Service's Human Resources Management System (HRMS). All absences are recorded on HRMS, which is administered centrally by the Department of Finance. The recording of absences is managed by my Department's Human Resources Section. All HQ-based staff at grades up to, and including, Higher Executive Officer register their attendance using a...

Written Answers — EU-ASEM Summit: EU-ASEM Summit (5 Nov 2008)

Micheál Martin: Following discussions in early October between officials from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the United States Government, the DPRK's reversal during the summer of its agreed nuclear disablement process appears to have been resolved. As a result, inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) returned last month to the nuclear facilities in the DPRK, and...

Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (5 Nov 2008)

Micheál Martin: Ireland's development aid Programme Countries are some of the poorest in the world. In recent years many of them have demonstrated slow but steady progress, both economically and socially. This progress, despite enormous and continuing challenges, is the result of new and stronger partnerships between international donors, such as Ireland, and developing country governments. These...

Written Answers — UN Reform: UN Reform (5 Nov 2008)

Micheál Martin: The UN World Summit held in September 2005 agreed a package of UN reforms which, while not as complete as might have been hoped, represented an important advance. Work to implement these reforms has been proceeding since then on a number of levels. As part of this reform, Ireland has been playing a leading role in the effort to reform the mechanisms through which the UN provides assistance to...

Written Answers — Diplomatic Contacts: Diplomatic Contacts (5 Nov 2008)

Micheál Martin: Officers of my Department at home and abroad, and I personally, take every opportunity to raise relevant concerns in our ongoing bilateral and multilateral contacts with representatives of other Governments. Officials at Irish Embassies abroad regularly make various forms of diplomatic representation in the countries to which they are accredited on behalf of Irish citizens abroad who may find...

Written Answers — Climate Change Strategy: Climate Change Strategy (5 Nov 2008)

Micheál Martin: Last month's European Council reaffirmed the climate change and energy commitments made at the 2007 Spring European Council, including the objective of concluding negotiations on the package of legislative measures designed to give effect to these commitments by the end of 2008. These 2007 commitments are for the EU to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20% by 2020, and to consume 20%...

Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (5 Nov 2008)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 111, 115 and 120 together. Under the Government's decentralisation programme announced in 2003, 125 posts attached to the Development Cooperation Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs were to decentralise to Limerick. The Division is the Headquarters of Irish Aid. Following sanction of an additional 20 posts by the Department of Finance in 2005, the...

Written Answers — Foreign Conflicts: Foreign Conflicts (5 Nov 2008)

Micheál Martin: More than six weeks after the signing of a power-sharing agreement between Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, and the Tsvangirai and Mutambara factions of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), there has still been no agreement on forming a Government, and the situation in Zimbabwe remains deeply worrying. Although political violence has diminished, it has not stopped. The rate of inflation...

Written Answers — Northern Ireland Issues: Northern Ireland Issues (5 Nov 2008)

Micheál Martin: The Government is committed to the full implementation of all aspects of the Good Friday Agreement and the St Andrews Agreement, including the effective operation of all of the Institutions — the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly, the North South Ministerial Council and the British Irish Council. The effective operation of these Institutions, which came into existence on the basis of...

Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (5 Nov 2008)

Micheál Martin: Making aid more effective is crucial if we are to reduce poverty in the long term and achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. These goals set out the globally agreed targets and benchmarks for poverty reduction. We know from experience that excessive fragmentation of aid leads to duplication and wastage. It places a heavy burden on the recipients of aid and undermines country...

Written Answers — Foreign Conflicts: Foreign Conflicts (5 Nov 2008)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 116 and 136 together. In resolution 1834 the United Nations Security Council expressed its intention to authorise the deployment of a UN military component to follow up EUFOR Chad/CAR in both Chad and the Central African Republic. This resolution also requested that the UN Secretary-General, in close cooperation with the European Union, continue planning and...

Written Answers — Human Rights Issues: Human Rights Issues (5 Nov 2008)

Micheál Martin: I myself did not participate in the recent visit by the Taoiseach to China but I am aware that the Taoiseach took the opportunity presented by a bilateral meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao on 23 October to review Chinese-Irish bilateral diplomatic, political and economic relations. In the course of the discussion, the Taoiseach raised the issue of human rights, as he did subsequently the same...

Written Answers — Foreign Conflicts: Foreign Conflicts (5 Nov 2008)

Micheál Martin: I am aware of reports of the incident in question, although the full details of the events are still unclear. The Syrian Government has said only that eight persons were killed, including civilians. The United States has made no official comment, but US sources are reported to have said that the attack successfully targeted an Iraqi leader of Al Qaeda who was active in channelling jihadist...

Written Answers — International Conventions: International Conventions (5 Nov 2008)

Micheál Martin: I take it that the Deputy is referring to the legal regime governing the exploration and exploitation of Ireland's continental shelf. The regime governing the exploration and exploitation of the continental shelf in international law is set down by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Under that Convention a coastal state is entitled to a continental shelf 200 nautical...

Written Answers — EU Treaties: EU Treaties (5 Nov 2008)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 122 and 128 together. At the October European Council meeting, the Taoiseach delivered a substantive progress report on developments in Ireland with regard to the Lisbon Treaty since the Council last met in June. The European Council agreed that the Irish Government will continue its consultations and that the Council will discuss this matter again at its...

Written Answers — Overseas Missions: Overseas Missions (5 Nov 2008)

Micheál Martin: The establishment and deployment of missions is a matter for decision by the Security Council for United Nations missions or the Council of the European Union for EU-led missions, respectively. The extent to which an individual country participates depends upon a number of factors, including their political will, their level of capability and the number of personnel and other assets they can...

Written Answers — Foreign Conflicts: Foreign Conflicts (5 Nov 2008)

Micheál Martin: The Government has consistently supported the right to self-determination of the people of the Western Sahara. Ireland has not taken a position on the future of the Territory, be it full independence, autonomy, or integration under Moroccan sovereignty, so long as it is decided in a genuine exercise of self-determination. We strongly support the continuing engagement of the United Nations in...