Results 10,601-10,620 of 11,433 for speaker:Michael Kitt

Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (6 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: Audits of Ireland's overseas development aid are undertaken on the basis of a three-year rolling audit work plan which is overseen by the Department's Evaluation and Audit Unit. At the start of each year an annual operational plan is agreed which comprises a range of audit activities including: Work carried out directly by Irish Aid's Evaluation and Audit Unit and by Internal Auditors based...

Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (6 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), adopted in the year 2000 as part of the commitments undertaken by Heads of Government at the Millennium Summit, represent a framework for international economic and social development up to the year 2015. The latest MDG progress report, issued in July 2007, gave us a snapshot of the progress achieved at the midpoint of the 2015 MDG target date,...

Written Answers — Humanitarian Assistance: Humanitarian Assistance (6 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: Tropical Storm Fame developed in the Mozambique Channel on 25 January 2008 reaching Category 1 status on 27 January 2008. It then changed course eastwards away from Mozambique. Heavy rains and storms since the beginning of December 2007 have caused severe flooding in southern Africa, including Mozambique. The most recent UN reports indicate that approximately 20,000 households or 95,000...

Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (6 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: The White Paper on Irish Aid included a commitment to establish a new Inter-Departmental Committee on Development to strengthen coherence in the Government's approach to development and to make best use of the expertise and skills available across the public service. I am pleased to say that, in line with that commitment, an Inter-Departmental Committee on Development has been established....

Written Answers — Hunger Task Force: Hunger Task Force (6 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: The establishment of a Hunger Task Force was one of the recommendations of the White Paper on Irish Aid published in September 2006. The aim of the Hunger Task Force is to identify the additional, appropriate and effective contributions that Ireland can make to international efforts to reduce hunger. The first meeting of the Hunger Task Force took place in Dublin on 14 September 2007 and the...

Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (6 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: Ireland provides development assistance to Uganda directly and also through NGOs, missionaries and other international partner organisations. In 2006 Ireland provided over €32 million in direct assistance. Additional funding of over €9.5 million was made available through other organisations including the World Food Programme (WFP), UNICEF, UNHCR, Oxfam, World Vision and Irish NGOs such...

Written Answers — Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Greenhouse Gas Emissions (6 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: Global warming is a serious concern to everyone. We are all increasingly aware of the threat this now poses to humanity. The Government is strongly committed to fulfilling its international obligations to reduce the level of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. However, global warming cannot be solved by one country alone — it requires the commitment of all nations in the world. Rain forests...

Written Answers — Health Issues: Health Issues (6 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: As outlined in the White Paper on Irish Aid, the Government's commitment to tackling HIV and AIDS and other diseases of poverty will remain a top priority for our aid programme. We are committed to developing programmes that address the key causes of illness and ill health among the poorest and most vulnerable people, and to strengthening health systems in the poorest countries. Following the...

Written Answers — Debt Relief: Debt Relief (6 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: There are two main international instruments which address the problem of the debt burden in the developing world, the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI). The HIPC Initiative, which was launched in 1996 and strengthened and enhanced in 1999, seeks to reduce the debt burden of qualifying countries to sustainable levels but does...

Election Observation Missions. (6 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: The Government has a long-standing policy of responding to requests for election observers in as positive a manner as possible. Over the last ten years, Ireland has participated in over 80 missions and has fielded more than 750 election observers. The election observation mission programme is run by the volunteering unit in the development co-operation division of my Department. This is...

Election Observation Missions. (6 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: I agree with the Deputy. There were two elections in Kenya and Georgia over the Christmas period which were of great interest to our Department. Due to the uncertainty regarding the timing of the Kenyan elections, its long history of political stability and the short notification we received, it was decided that the elections in Georgia would be prioritised. The election results in Georgia...

Election Observation Missions. (6 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: I agree with the point made by the Deputy. However, we must be asked to participate in monitoring elections and once an invitation is received from the EU, the OSCE or the UN volunteers programme, we make a decision on how best to respond to the invitation. We try to do that as quickly as possible. I would like to include parliamentary representation where possible and to have a good...

Irish Aid. (6 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: The White Paper on Irish Aid included a commitment to establish a new interdepartmental committee on development to strengthen coherence in the Government's approach to development and to make best use of the expertise and skills available across the public service. I am pleased to say that, in line with that commitment, an interdepartmental committee on development has been established. It...

Irish Aid. (6 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: The board and the committee have essentially advisory roles but this is not to underestimate their influence. Their recommendations to the Minister for Foreign Affairs draw on a wide range of input and expertise and they feed directly into the work of Irish Aid. On the question of projects, at present the advisory board is at the United Nations in New York. We are very grateful to its...

Irish Aid. (6 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: There was a White Paper——

Irish Aid. (6 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: ——commitment, to which the Deputy referred. This issue has to do with coherence. The interdepartmental committee is open to all Departments with a role in development plans, including the Departments of Finance, Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Enterprise, Trade and Employment and Health and Children.

Irish Aid. (6 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: It is about coherence and these Departments working together. The advisory board comes before the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs with reports and we have an opportunity to meet its members at such committee meetings.

Overseas Development Aid. (6 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: Seasonal rains caused flooding and landslides in central and east Java in December 2007 and January 2008, with reports of about 118 deaths. Relief activities were principally conducted by the Indonesian authorities, including the national agency for search and rescue, provincial and district co-ordination units for disaster management and the Indonesian Department of Health. The Indonesian...

Overseas Development Aid. (6 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: Irish Aid provided €52 million as part of the CERF. Of the €20 million contributed to the tsunami relief effort, €6.4 million was allocated directly to Indonesia and a further €5.6 million to the south Asia region, including Indonesia. A special envoy, Chris Flood, was appointed and he visited the country twice in the aftermath of the disaster. The Irish people provided almost...

Overseas Development Aid. (6 Feb 2008)

Michael Kitt: We have responded to other natural disasters such as Hurricane Noel in Mexico, the cyclone in Bangladesh, the Caribbean and central America, severe flooding in Uganda and Mozambique and the earthquake in Peru. The Irish Red Cross and other NGOs in Indonesia had sufficient capacity to respond to the flooding and landslides. No international appeal for assistance issued and, therefore, we...