Results 9,101-9,120 of 50,136 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Revised)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Revised) (14 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: I do not mean that the situation will always be like that.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Revised)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Revised) (14 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: No, but you would get a false presentation. You would get a percentage that is higher, which we actually could cut. We are talking theoretically here but, in real terms, every year we must incrementally increase the allocation because it matters to Ireland's security. In this country we are having a wider debate on inward migration and all of that but we must tackle issues at source. To...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Revised)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Revised) (14 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: It is ten months.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Revised)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Revised) (14 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: I thank the Cathaoirleach. I will deal first with foreign birth registration, which he and Deputy Clarke have raised in particular. Some 35,000 were processed in 2022, which is an extraordinarily high number, and the processing time was reduced from over two years to ten months. I was talking to officials last month and they believe we can realistically get that down to six months. We...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Revised)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Revised) (14 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: It has. There is no question. I take on board what the Cathaoirleach said. We want to be as efficient as we possibly can because that is part of our mission statement. These are services to the citizens and we have got to be as efficient and optimal as we can be, within reason. In that respect, when it comes to the passports, we now have about 815 staff in the Passport Office, which is...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Revised)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Revised) (14 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: I will add to the query on Garda witnessing. The temporary system was established between the passport service and An Garda Síochána during the peak period in 2022 to verify applications in cases where the Garda signature could not be verified by calling to the Garda station. This new system assisted in reducing the number of applications that were delayed due to a failure to...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Revised)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Revised) (14 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: They have been, with the result that we are on target. People are being answered every day. There are same-day responses. Calls are answered in less than a minute.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Revised)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Revised) (14 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: The key to this is we are at the optimum staffing level. I have discussed this with officials with regard to the balance between temporary and permanent. Competitions through the Public Appointments Service, PAS, and so on are necessary, but we have to make sure we have a critical number of staff that can do all of this. We have the budget for it. While obviously the pandemic was a big...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Revised)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Revised) (14 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: I agree with that. We all know, from people who contact us, to check expiry dates and everything else a month or two before getting on the plane. It can happen. It is human nature. People are very anxious as well. It is their holiday, which is a big event for the family, or it may be a job. There is total understanding of where people are coming from. We just have to respond as...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Schemes (14 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: The Department of Foreign Affairs has not put in place a compensation or redress scheme since 1998.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Birth Registration (14 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: My Department is responsible for processing Foreign Birth Registration (FBR) applications for people who are born abroad and claim Irish citizenship through a grandparent born in Ireland or through a parent who has claimed citizenship also through FBR, Naturalisation or Post Nuptial Citizenship. Demand for this service increased significantly as a result of the Brexit vote in the UK. The...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Consular Services (14 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: Ireland currently has over 80 Honorary Consuls operating in more than 50 countries across the globe. Our global network of Honorary Consuls offers vital support to the Government across a range of priorities, including providing a means of meeting the needs of Irish citizens and the Government in regions where we do not have a resident diplomatic Mission. The services provided by the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Official Travel (14 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: Ireland’s diplomatic relations with Barbados are currently established through Ireland’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York. In December 2022, a Government Decision was approved by Cabinet to seek the accreditation of the Embassy of Ireland in Washington D.C. to Barbados, with the objective of enhancing relations between Ireland and Barbados. The relevant...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Fisheries Protection (14 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: My Department and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine continue to work to address issues related to Rockall, reflecting the longstanding fisheries tradition in the area. I last discussed the matter with Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon in November. We agreed to continue to prioritise this matter and to continue to work together to seek to resolve outstanding...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (14 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: With regard to the specific application to which the Deputy has referred, the Passport Service has been unable to issue a refund to date as the Passport Service does not hold payment details for the applicant. The Passport Service emailed the applicant on 12 July 2021 advising the applicant to call the Passport Service contact number provided in the email to provide payment details for the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Official Engagements (14 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: I travelled to Washington DC for a series of high-level meetings and engagements on 8-9 February, including with senior figures in the Biden Administration and the State Department, as well as with members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. I had a positive and productive meeting with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on 8 February. This was a timely opportunity to...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: European Council (14 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: While Haiti does not appear as an agenda item on the provisional agenda set for the next meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, the European Union remains actively engaged on the deeply concerning situation in Haiti, notably the disturbing levels of insecurity and violence, the humanitarian needs of the Haitian people, and the human rights situation. Ireland and the EU continue to urge...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (14 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: A Working Group on Medical Care was established in 2021 to bring forward proposals and identify an approach to implementing the Programme for Government commitment to ensure all enlisted members of the Defence Forces have the same access to healthcare as officers currently do. Its work included analysing the range and cost of treatments currently provided to Officers and how best to provide...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Departmental Schemes (14 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: The table below sets out the details of compensations or redress schemes put in place by my Department since 1998. Scheme No. of Claimants Total Cost Loss of Earnings Scheme for Civil Defence Volunteers due to Covid-19 Illness 1 €440 The scheme set out above relates to Covid-19 Illness Loss. In March 2020, in line...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (14 Feb 2023)

Micheál Martin: The Department of Justice and Equality and An Garda Síochána have primary responsibility for the internal security of the State. Among the roles assigned to the Defence Forces in the White Paper on Defence is the provision of Aid to the Civil Power (ATCP) which, in practice, means to assist An Garda Síochána when requested to do so. On each occasion that the support of...