Results 721-740 of 7,278 for speaker:Dick Roche

Foreign Conflicts. (3 Jul 2007)

Dick Roche: The Government has always supported the family in that respect and it is mischievous to suggest otherwise.

Middle East Peace Process. (3 Jul 2007)

Dick Roche: I propose to take Questions Nos. 88, 89, 114, 157, 175, 292 and 293 together. I have already set out the broad lines of the Government's policy on the Middle East peace process in my reply to Question No. 85. The root cause of the current crisis in the occupied Palestinian territories is the absence of a credible political process for a viable two-state solution. The Government has argued...

Middle East Peace Process. (3 Jul 2007)

Dick Roche: I do not agree with the Deputy. The European Union did not cut its assistance to the Palestinians. It sought alternative routes to channel funds.

Middle East Peace Process. (3 Jul 2007)

Dick Roche: As I outlined, the European Union maintained its assistance through the office of the President of the Palestinian Authority and took the lead internationally to establish the temporary international mechanism. I share the Deputy's view on the withholding of funds due to the Palestinian Government through the Israelis.

Middle East Peace Process. (3 Jul 2007)

Dick Roche: The Deputy cannot suggest, by any reasonable extension, that the European Union was responsible for the schism, to use his word, which resulted in the dreadful events in the recent past. There can be no doubt that any solution will have to involve Hamas but the arrangements the European Union took at the time was to make sure funding got to the people, which is most important.

Middle East Peace Process. (3 Jul 2007)

Dick Roche: I accept the Deputy's point that the temporary international mechanism was a less than perfect solution but it was an honest, if imperfect, approach to get in funding. I note the Deputy's concerns about the manner in which decisions are made at the edges of COREPER II and I will pass those comments and concerns on to the Minister, Deputy Dermot Ahern, although I am sure the Deputy has...

Middle East Peace Process. (3 Jul 2007)

Dick Roche: I agree with the Deputy's general point that taking any side in the dispute and trying to effectively put them into a cul-de-sac is not the best way forward. I have not heard the House of Commons report to which he refers but I have already referred to the Government's view on the actions by the Israeli Government over the years and our welcome for the fact that, very belatedly, as Deputy...

Middle East Peace Process. (3 Jul 2007)

Dick Roche: I agree with the Deputy on the last point. Rather than factionalise the people it is a great tragedy that all the Palestinian people cannot focus on help. I made the point in an earlier response to Deputy Allen that we have some experience that hundreds of years of fighting and killing achieves nothing. A few years of political courage focused on talking can provide solutions. This...

Middle East Peace Process. (3 Jul 2007)

Dick Roche: The only point on which I disagreed with the Deputy was the characterisation that it was decisions made about payments that created the current situation. On whether it causes hardship, of course it does. Withholding any form of revenue from any side causes hardship. However, the European Union made an honest effort and, as I stated, even an imperfect effort through the arrangements which...

Middle East Peace Process. (3 Jul 2007)

Dick Roche: I made the point to the Deputy that the arrangements which apply at the moment are appropriate within Palestinian law and it really is not a matter for us to adjudicate——

Middle East Peace Process. (3 Jul 2007)

Dick Roche: That is true, but it is the Palestinian people who have adopted their laws and it is not a matter for us to second guess them.

Middle East Peace Process. (3 Jul 2007)

Dick Roche: We are not in disagreement. I simply make the point that they have adopted their own laws and methods of operation, and it is not a matter for us. Deputy Higgins's point about a secretariat and about putting in place a structure is an interesting one on which historians may possibly make an adjudication. With a new envoy in place, perhaps that will happen. I hope something positive will...

Middle East Peace Process. (3 Jul 2007)

Dick Roche: With the benefit of hindsight, 20/20 vision always exists. There were specific circumstances in the particular period that informed European Union decisions made.

Middle East Peace Process. (3 Jul 2007)

Dick Roche: I take Deputy Allen's word for that. I also made the point that it would be wrong to characterise the Union as being the villains of this piece.

Foreign Conflicts. (3 Jul 2007)

Dick Roche: I propose to take Questions Nos. 90, 102, 117, 128, 133, 134, 160, 278, 286 and 287 together. I refer the Deputies to my response to Priority Question No. 86, in which I dealt with the timescale for the deployment for the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur and the humanitarian situation, including the plight of the displaced in Darfur. I will respond to the other points...

Foreign Conflicts. (3 Jul 2007)

Dick Roche: On the latter point, it involves not just Darfur but also the border areas. I mentioned already the Irish Government's support for humanitarian activity in Chad. On the first part of Deputy Higgins's question, as I stated already the engagement of China in this could be very positive. Chinese engagement typically has been characterised for all sorts of propagandist reasons as negative...

Foreign Conflicts. (3 Jul 2007)

Dick Roche: Deputy Higgins is correct. In fact, the people who attended the Paris conference have moral as well as other responsibilities to be forthcoming with funding, and funding has been slow.

Foreign Conflicts. (3 Jul 2007)

Dick Roche: The main difficulties are political rather than simply funding difficulties. If political decisions were made, funding would follow. I do not have the date for the commencement of the work of the hybrid force.

Intergovernmental Conference. (3 Jul 2007)

Dick Roche: I propose to take Questions Nos. 91, 126, 135 and 156 together. Ireland is satisfied with the outcome to the recent European Council which agreed a mandate for a forthcoming Intergovernmental Conference to finalise the proposed reform treaty. The mandate secured political agreement on a range of issues connected with the new treaty. The purpose of the Intergovernmental Conference is to...

Intergovernmental Conference. (3 Jul 2007)

Dick Roche: The last point is important. Given our common legal system, it is important that we consider matters of justice and home affairs very carefully. There is no conclusion to that because the mandate was perfected in recent days. It is an issue we will continue to consider. I do not recall Deputy Ó Snodaigh's intervention on State aids last week. When discussing the opt-in and opt-out we...