Results 1,141-1,160 of 3,523 for speaker:Lucinda Creighton

Seanad: Ireland's Presidency of the European Council: Statements (26 Feb 2013)

Lucinda Creighton: I certainly do. How long do I have?

Seanad: Ireland's Presidency of the European Council: Statements (26 Feb 2013)

Lucinda Creighton: I am always on the clock when I am in the Seanad Chamber. I will try to respond to all of the points made. There was a lot of overlap in the contributions, with almost everyone highlighting the potential of the free trade negotiations, particularly those involving the United States. I am really enthused and encouraged by the energy and optimism that exists in this Chamber about the...

Seanad: Ireland's Presidency of the European Council: Statements (26 Feb 2013)

Lucinda Creighton: It is the other way around.

Seanad: Ireland's Presidency of the European Council: Statements (26 Feb 2013)

Lucinda Creighton: No. We are putting in ¤10 billion and get ¤12 billion back. We are net beneficiaries.

Seanad: Ireland's Presidency of the European Council: Statements (26 Feb 2013)

Lucinda Creighton: The Senator needs to be as well co-ordinated as Senator Zappone.

Seanad: Ireland's Presidency of the European Council: Statements (26 Feb 2013)

Lucinda Creighton: I have gathered my breath. I thank the Members for the invitation to once again have the pleasure and honour of addressing the Chamber on the first two months of the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Ireland formally took over the Presidency on 1 January but, in reality, the Government has been in intensive Presidency mode since I last addressed the Seanad in late...

European Council: Statements (28 Nov 2012)

Lucinda Creighton: This will be an EU-wide model and I hope the Deputy's party will support it when it comes up because it is important.

European Council: Statements (28 Nov 2012)

Lucinda Creighton: Of course not; I am not an EU leader.

European Council: Statements (28 Nov 2012)

Lucinda Creighton: It happens all the time.

European Council: Statements (28 Nov 2012)

Lucinda Creighton: As we did on the CAP consistently.

European Council: Statements (28 Nov 2012)

Lucinda Creighton: I will not have time for my wrap-up at this stage. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, is waiting. I am not really sure what Deputy Joe Higgins's questions were. Clearly, we have a different outlook on the measures required to rebalance the public finances and get the Irish and European economies back on track. I am not sure we will be able to align our positions in any...

European Council: Statements (28 Nov 2012)

Lucinda Creighton: I thank Deputies for their questions and comments. I will begin by referring to Deputy Martin's series of questions. Of course I do not agree with the emphasis placed on cutting the budget. This has been the clear position of the Irish Government from the outset of the MFF, multi-annual financial framework negotiations. Along with a number of other member states we argued strongly in...

European Council: Statements (28 Nov 2012)

Lucinda Creighton: Nothing is ruled out with regard to the European Stability Mechanism. We are exploring all potential options. No path has been ruled out by the Government.

European Council: Statements (28 Nov 2012)

Lucinda Creighton: The Government has not ruled out any option. This is the case in so far as I am aware. Deputies raised the issue of the situation in Gaza. The Foreign Affairs Council dealt with this issue last week. The Tánaiste and I attended the meeting. The conclusions of the Foreign Affairs Council have been adopted by the European Union every month for the past number of years. It is...

European Council: Statements (28 Nov 2012)

Lucinda Creighton: -----in our defence of human rights and of innocent civilians. The European Union has the potential to take a lead on this issue. High Representative Catherine Ashton has adopted a leadership role, particularly during the recent US presidential elections when there was very little engagement by the United States in the situation in the Middle East. I was pleased to see the intervention of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Presidency of the Council of the European Union: Discussion with Minister of State (27 Nov 2012)

Lucinda Creighton: The USA has a peace corps with which I have had some interaction in different parts of Africa, and it is a really good model that has worked very well. I think it was originally an initiative of the late President John F. Kennedy and is something of which young Americans are very proud. I would not agree with Senator Leyden that it could be a substitute for overseas development aid, and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Presidency of the Council of the European Union: Discussion with Minister of State (27 Nov 2012)

Lucinda Creighton: Thank you.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Presidency of the Council of the European Union: Discussion with Minister of State (27 Nov 2012)

Lucinda Creighton: I will take the questions in themes because there was quite an amount of overlap. The question of youth unemployment and unemployment generally was raised by almost everybody. All our efforts during the Presidency will be aimed at targeting that issue. Whether we are talking about stabilising the banking system, stabilising the currency union underpinning it, moving in the direction of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Presidency of the Council of the European Union: Discussion with Minister of State (27 Nov 2012)

Lucinda Creighton: I will be concise and to the point. The Chairman raised the question of the banking union. I agree with him on how the supervisory mechanism should be constructed. It is important there is equality between member states. It is also important that we take into account the concerns of non-eurozone countries in this context. That will be tricky and difficult to work out but the most...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Presidency of the Council of the European Union: Discussion with Minister of State (27 Nov 2012)

Lucinda Creighton: I thank the joint committee for the invitation to update members on preparations for Ireland's Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The formal start of the Presidency is 1 January 2013, which is exactly five weeks away but in many regards it has already started for us in terms of the levels of engagement we have had, particularly in recent weeks with partners. Work on the Irish...