Results 5,441-5,460 of 8,649 for speaker:Seán Crowe

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights Issues (13 Jan 2016)

Seán Crowe: 720. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade what he will do to ensure that respect for human rights remains a criterion guiding engagement with the governments which take part in the Valletta action plan and the Khartoum and Rabat processes, particularly in Eritrea and in Sudan. [46715/15]

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Immigration Policy (13 Jan 2016)

Seán Crowe: 721. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he is aware that many European Union member states are in favour of applying the more-for-more principle to migration which means that there will be positive conditionality attached to aid, trade and other aspects of co-operation between the EU and third countries who will receive more from the European Union in exchange for more...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Applications (13 Jan 2016)

Seán Crowe: 722. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he is aware that many single parent families are concerned over the expense incurred in providing an affidavit from a solicitor confirming their sole guardianship status when applying for an Irish passport for their children, that this adversely affects low-income families who are required to provide an affidavit every three to five...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Current Developments in Northern Ireland: Discussion on Fresh Start Agreement (17 Dec 2015)

Seán Crowe: The Chairman is being very positive today. As part of this discussion, we should reflect on how this latest round of talks came about. We know there are difficulties within the political institutions and two individuals were killed in Belfast by criminals, which led to a serious crisis in the process. There were also difficulties concerning cuts in services for the most vulnerable in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Current Developments in Northern Ireland: Discussion on Fresh Start Agreement (17 Dec 2015)

Seán Crowe: When it comes to thanking people, the only person we have left out is the former American Senator Gary Hart who played a very important role. This reiterates the importance of the American Administration in the peace process. It would be remiss of us not to thank him also. While we are thanking everyone, we should also thank the staff of the committee and the Chairman for chairing meetings...

Other Questions: Humanitarian Aid (17 Dec 2015)

Seán Crowe: It is welcome that there will be additional funding. The concern is that the world does not seem to pay attention to the advance warning of these humanitarian crises and does not act until it sees horrific images on television or computer screens. Oxfam has stated the world must move faster than in the past to help drought stricken regions of Africa. In 2011 warnings were issued months in...

Other Questions: Humanitarian Aid (17 Dec 2015)

Seán Crowe: One could argue that the crises in Syria and Yemen are man-made, but it could be argued also that this weather phenomenon is caused by climate change. At the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked whether this issue would be raised at the December meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council. Did the Irish contingent at that meeting raise...

Other Questions: Humanitarian Aid (17 Dec 2015)

Seán Crowe: 8. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he is aware that the El Niño weather pattern is expected to wreak havoc this year; that the United Nations has warned that 11 million children are at risk from hunger, disease and lack of water in eastern and southern Africa alone; that in west Africa conditions are aligning in a similar way to the massive 1972 drought that...

Other Questions: Humanitarian Aid (17 Dec 2015)

Seán Crowe: El Niño is a periodic, worldwide weather phenomenon caused by the Pacific Ocean warming. This year’s pattern is more extreme than it has been for decades and expected to wreak havoc. The European Union has warned that 11 million people are at risk from hunger, disease and lack of water in eastern and southern Africa alone. In west Africa conditions are emerging similar to the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Human Rights Issues (17 Dec 2015)

Seán Crowe: The Egyptian embassy has been briefing Deputies, Senators and Members of the European Parliament on this case. Is the Minister concerned about some of the information emerging at these briefings that seems to be erroneous? There was a suggestion that the prisoner addressed the court in regard to his hunger strike. My information is that there is no opportunity to address the court. We are...

Other Questions: Middle East Issues (17 Dec 2015)

Seán Crowe: 6. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he is aware that a Palestinian Member of Parliament (details supplied) who is a senior member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and member of the Palestinian Legislative Council was sentenced to 15 months in jail by an Israeli military court; that the charges are viewed as political in nature; that the individual was...

Other Questions: Middle East Issues (17 Dec 2015)

Seán Crowe: This question is about Ms Khalida Jarrar, a Palestinian Member of Parliament and a senior member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Palestinian Legislative Council. She was sentenced to jail for 15 months by an Israeli court on 6 December. She was seized in April during a late-night raid on her home in al-Bireh, a town near the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah....

Other Questions: Middle East Issues (17 Dec 2015)

Seán Crowe: Last week, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade met Mr. Bernard Sabella, the chairman of the Palestinian delegation at the Council of Europe. He asked us specifically to raise the case in the Parliament because of the fact that he was a Member of Parliament. The point he made at the meeting was that all the charges are deemed political. The Israeli court has rejected...

Other Questions: Middle East Issues (17 Dec 2015)

Seán Crowe: Many observers have noted that the timing of Ms Khalida Jarrar's arrest came shortly after the Palestinian Authority joined the International Criminal Court. This was an important focus of Ms Khalida Jarrar's parliamentary work. Many see this arrest as Israel seeking and taking revenge for the Palestinians joining the International Criminal Court. Does the Minister share that belief? Has...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Human Rights Issues (17 Dec 2015)

Seán Crowe: 5. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he is aware that a person's (details supplied) trial took place on 15 December 2015; the specific assistance the Irish Embassy in Cairo in Egypt gave to this person and the person's legal team in advance of and at this trial; his future plans to ensure that the person is released and allowed to return to Ireland. [45623/15]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Human Rights Issues (17 Dec 2015)

Seán Crowe: On Tuesday, the trial of Irish citizen Ibrahim Halawa in Egypt was postponed yet again. His trial has been postponed ten times and is now due to take place on Saturday, 19 December. If convicted he faces the death penalty. Last Sunday, he marked his 20th birthday in prison, his third birthday in jail, and I attended a sad, though good-natured, vigil at the embassy at the weekend. I put...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Human Rights Issues (17 Dec 2015)

Seán Crowe: We are all on the same page on this. We all want to see him come home and the only difference is how this can be achieved. I welcome the fact that the ambassador to Egypt, Damien Cole, was present at Ibrahim's trial on Tuesday. I also welcome the consular assistance Ibrahim is getting. Will the Minister confirm that the Irish Embassy has access to a translator who speaks the legal, formal...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Human Rights Issues (17 Dec 2015)

Seán Crowe: 2. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has raised concerns with his European counterparts over the European Union's new political and financial deal with Turkey to curb the number of refugees entering the Union; if he has human rights concerns over the deal; if he is aware that a very prominent Kurdish human rights lawyer, Mr. Tahir Elçi, was assassinated in Turkey on...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Human Rights Issues (17 Dec 2015)

Seán Crowe: Before I begin, I wish the Ceann Comhairle and his family, the staff, the Minister and the Minister of State a merry Christmas. I will probably not get another opportunity. I am concerned that in an attempt to use Turkey as Europe's gatekeeper, the EU is apparently ignoring and, by extension, encouraging serious human rights violations in Turkey. I am also tabling this question in the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Human Rights Issues (17 Dec 2015)

Seán Crowe: Yesterday, Amnesty International condemned the Turkish authorities for detaining scores of refugees, including people from Iraq and Syria, and pressuring them into returning home in an alleged breach of international law dating back to September. The EU seems to be setting aside many of its concerns about the growing authoritarianism of the Turkish Government and instead promising €3...