Results 6,081-6,100 of 7,777 for speaker:Joe Costello

Regulation of Casinos. (10 May 2006)

Joe Costello: I welcome the Minister to the House. Last November in a parliamentary question I asked the Minister whether he was aware that a gambling casino had opened up in the vicinity of Grafton Street. He replied that he was aware that such type of facility had been opened. It would be difficult not to be aware because it opened with a great fanfare of publicity and some well-known figures were...

Written Answers — Asylum Applications: Asylum Applications (10 May 2006)

Joe Costello: Question 69: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he has made a decision on the asylum application of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17520/06]

Third Annual Report of the European Union (Scrutiny) Act 2002: Statements. (10 May 2006)

Joe Costello: I have a question from a member of the public on scrutiny of decision making. It states that wherever decisions are made, the process of arriving at them should be fully transparent and the decisions should be adequately explained to the public. The President of the Commission and various national figures in a number of member states have referred to the fact the EU is frequently undersold....

European Communities (Amendment) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (10 May 2006)

Joe Costello: He did his best to run with it.

European Communities (Amendment) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (10 May 2006)

Joe Costello: The Deputy should not knock civil servants.

European Communities (Amendment) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (10 May 2006)

Joe Costello: A number of them are here assisting the Minister of State.

Third Annual Report of the European Union (Scrutiny) Act 2002: Statements. (10 May 2006)

Joe Costello: I congratulate Deputy Allen, Chairman of the Sub-Committee on EU Scrutiny, on all the work that has been done by the committee under his remit. The Third Annual Report on the Operation of the European Union (Scrutiny) Act 2002 is a most impressive document. It highlights the sub-committee's enormous workload, including the number of meetings during which documents were considered, issues...

Third Annual Report of the European Union (Scrutiny) Act 2002: Statements. (10 May 2006)

Joe Costello: We must pay tribute to the incredible work that has been done by the sub-committee, as well as by the various joint committees which consider the documents and directives which are referred to them. The figures quoted in the report are quite startling. In the four years since 2002, approximately 1,452 documents of one type or another have passed through the hands of the sub-committee. Some...

Third Annual Report of the European Union (Scrutiny) Act 2002: Statements. (10 May 2006)

Joe Costello: Just 148 Bills have been passed in that time, which is approximately one tenth of the 1,452 documents which have been considered by the sub-committee since 2002. Not all of the 1,452 documents are legislative provisions, but approximately three quarters of them are. That means, in effect, that we are being legislated for from Europe. This House spends most of its time dealing with and teasing...

European Communities (Amendment) Bill 2006: Second Stage. (10 May 2006)

Joe Costello: I, too, welcome and fully support the Bill. I noted the Minister's upbeat, stirring and rhetorical remarks. He is positive towards Europe. Many of us who were previously Euro-sceptics have seen the significant benefits of EU membership for Irish citizens, producing a better quality of life and economy and general improvements for the country. That must be acknowledged and should be the...

Report of the Joint Committee on European Affairs on Migration: Statements. (10 May 2006)

Joe Costello: I welcome the initiative to have this focused debate in the Dáil on the European Union. I hope it will continue and that other states follow suit. It seems strange that 3% of our workforce — 62,000 — are from the ten accession countries, reflecting fewer than half the number that came to this country since 2004. That consists of less than a third of all non-nationals working in this...

Written Answers — Defence Forces Reserve: Defence Forces Reserve (9 May 2006)

Joe Costello: Question 133: To ask the Minister for Defence the reason the coastguard station leased by his Department has been sold to the Dún Laoghaire Harbour Commission thus depriving the local Battalion of the Reserve Defence Forces of their training centre; if this development is contrary to the criteria under which the reserve was established in 2005; and if he will make a statement on the matter....

Written Answers — Commemorative Events: Commemorative Events (9 May 2006)

Joe Costello: Question 458: To ask the Minister for Defence if the Government has proposals for the GPO, O'Connell Street, and No. 16 Moore Street, Dublin 1, in the context of the commemoration of the events of 1916; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16839/06]

Written Answers — Criminal Prosecutions: Criminal Prosecutions (9 May 2006)

Joe Costello: Question 312: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on a recent European Court of Justice ruling (details supplied) and the stance of the EU Commission on EU competence to introduce measures requiring the creation of criminal offences and the imposition of criminal penalties in the domestic laws of Member States; if the issue has been considered by the Government...

Written Answers — Anti-Racism Measures: Anti-Racism Measures (9 May 2006)

Joe Costello: Question 343: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the position the Irish delegation in the council has taken on the proposal for a council framework decision on combating racism and xenophobia, specifically in the Working Part on Substantive Criminal Law. [17398/06]

Overseas Missions. (9 May 2006)

Joe Costello: Question 61: To ask the Minister for Defence if his attention has been drawn to the concerns expressed by the survivors of the Niemba ambush in the Congo in 1960 regarding their treatment by the authorities in the intervening years; if he will meet them and discuss their concerns; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17199/06]

Overseas Missions. (9 May 2006)

Joe Costello: I am delighted the Minister gave an undertaking on 23 February that he would take another look at the file, that he asked a senior officer to do so and that the matter is being pursued. My interest in this issue goes back 12 years, when one of the two survivors, Mr. Fitzpatrick, asked me to launch his memoir and I also met Mr. Kenny at that meeting. I put down a number of questions over the...

Overseas Missions. (9 May 2006)

Joe Costello: I am delighted the Minister has agreed to meet the two individuals. This is very welcome and I appreciate his approach to the matter. There is a 30-year rule on State archives becoming available to the public. Does that rule apply to archival material of this nature in the military? There is a file on the Niemba ambush and some of the details in that file appear to be confidential. We have a...

Overseas Missions. (9 May 2006)

Joe Costello: When will it be made available?

Defence Forces Property. (9 May 2006)

Joe Costello: Does the Minister make a clear distinction between the National Archives and National Museum and a military museum? I am not aware that we have a national military museum. The National Museum has occasionally displayed matters of a military nature. Obviously the archives are a different matter. Could a military archive and military museum be housed within the same general space? Has the...