Results 10,581-10,600 of 11,433 for speaker:Michael Kitt

Passports Bill 2007: Report Stage (19 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: I have been advised by the Office of the Attorney General that amendment No. 2 is unnecessary because section 5 of the Civil Registration Act 2004 deals with the points raised. Section 5 of that Act states that in so far as any certificate issued under an enactment repealed by section 4 of the same Act could have been issued under a corresponding provision of the Act, it shall not be...

Passports Bill 2007: Report Stage (19 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: I am grateful to Deputies Higgins and Lynch for drawing attention on Committee Stage to the possibility of a loophole involving passports which have expired prior to the commencement of the Act. I undertook on Committee Stage to consider the matter further and to revert to the House on it. My officials have since consulted the Office of the Director for Public Prosecutions and the Office of...

Passports Bill 2007: Report Stage (19 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: The Bill permits a citizen to apply for a passport under section 6(1). Similarly, section 6(3) permits the making of an application by a parent or guardian on behalf of a child. Having provided for the right to make an application, section 6(2) requires applications to be made in such form and to be accompanied by such information and documents as may be required. In other words, a citizen...

Passports Bill 2007: Report Stage (19 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: Where an applicant meets the requirements set out in the legislation in respect of identity and citizenship, the Minister will issue a passport. However, the Bill does not make issuing a passport a mandatory requirement. If the amendment were accepted, section 11 would be the only circumstance in which the Bill obliged the Minister to issue a passport. In the interest of ensuring...

Passports Bill 2007: Report Stage (19 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: I can discuss the matter with other Ministers who would deal more directly with the matter. We are dealing with the administration of the passport system. With regard to the points raised by Deputy Shatter, this was a case prior to the Foy judgment, which recognised the distinction between a travel document and a birth certificate.

Passports Bill 2007: Report Stage (19 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: That is the case, which the Deputy knows.

Passports Bill 2007: Report Stage (19 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: That has been the long-standing practice of the Passport Office in connection with passport applications by persons who have undergone or are undergoing treatment or procedures to alter their sexual characteristics. With regard to words like "may" and "shall", section 11 would be the only circumstance in which the Bill obliges a Minister to issue a passport if we accepted the amendment.

Passports Bill 2007: Report Stage (19 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: The word "may" is used in every other positive way and "shall" is used with "shall not" with negative issues.

Passports Bill 2007: Report Stage (19 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: I have explained the case of recognising the distinction between travel and birth cert to the Deputy. I can discuss the issue with my colleagues but I cannot give the Deputy a response today in the Dáil.

Passports Bill 2007: Report Stage (19 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: I am dealing with the administration of the Passport Office and we have thrashed that out on Second Stage.

Passports Bill 2007: Report Stage (19 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: Does Deputy Kathleen Lynch wish to speak?

Passports Bill 2007: Report Stage (19 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: Not at all.

Passports Bill 2007: Report Stage (19 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: In respect of amendment No. 14, it is very unlikely that in practice the Minister would seek to invoke the power to refuse a passport on the basis of the common good. Its inclusion is intended to provide discretion in exceptional cases. It is also included in recognition of the fact that the High Court explicitly cited the common good in the judgment that first identified the unenumerated...

Passports Bill 2007: Report Stage (19 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: I mentioned earlier to Deputy Shatter that my Department has been involved in a small number of tragic consular cases in which citizens inadvertently placed their health or their lives at risk in travelling abroad. I refer to people in receipt of psychiatric treatment who travel overseas with the resultant discontinuation of their treatment. That constitutes an example. However, I repeat...

Passports Bill 2007: Report Stage (19 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: We have the passport appeals office and people can also avail of judicial review. I made this point earlier. I take Deputy Lynch's point that people retain a number of passports. However, in addition to my earlier remarks, I should add that section 18 provides for circumstances in which a passport must be surrendered to the Minister or to the Garda. This is backed up by offences under...

Passports Bill 2007: Report Stage (19 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: The Ceann Comhairle's promise. Question, "That the words proposed to be deleted stand", put and declared carried.

Passports Bill 2007: Report Stage (19 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: I have no difficulty with the intention behind these amendments, which are designed to ensure the welfare of children. Securing the welfare of children is central to this Bill and there are many provisions that touch on the matter. In the administration of the passport service, the Minister in the normal way is required to and will comply with orders issued by the courts directing him or...

Seanad: Millennium Development Goal: Motion (13 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: I welcome the opportunity to address the Seanad on the pressing international development issue of maternal health and mortality. I thank Senators for their contributions and I am pleased the motion is agreed. In 2000, maternal health was selected as one of the eight highest priorities for the future of developing countries. By including the issue in the millennium development goals, heads...

Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (12 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: Irish Aid delivers assistance to over 30 countries in Africa and has developed long term partnerships with seven of these countries which are known as programme countries. These are Tanzania, Zambia, Lesotho, Mozambique, Uganda, Ethiopia and Malawi. Asia, Vietnam and East Timor are also designated as programme countries. These partnerships allow Irish Aid to provide significant, predictable...

Written Answers — Rapid Response Corps: Rapid Response Corps (6 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: Sixty four volunteers were invited to become members of the Rapid Response Corps in 2007 following a rigorous selection and interview process. Fifty two of this group completed their pre-departure training and checks in the past year, and seven of those have already been deployed to various humanitarian crises worldwide. A further member will be deployed shortly. To date, Corps members have...