Results 13,641-13,660 of 16,849 for speaker:Dermot Ahern

Written Answers — Foreign Conflicts: Foreign Conflicts (4 Oct 2007)

Dermot Ahern: I refer the Deputy to the answer given to PQ 18777 on 3rd July 2007, in which I outlined the rationale for the establishment of the Conflict Resolution Unit and its broad objectives. The programme for Government sets out key goals: the creation of an academic Centre for Conflict Resolution, the establishment of a system of roving Ambassadors to affected regions and the development of an...

Written Answers — Ministerial Expenses: Ministerial Expenses (3 Oct 2007)

Dermot Ahern: Listed below are the details of the monies paid in expenses to each of the Ministers of State at my Department over the past five years.

Written Answers — Foreign Conflicts: Foreign Conflicts (2 Oct 2007)

Dermot Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 299, 301 and 309 together. As the current crisis in Burma has unfolded I have, in my statements of 24 August and 24 and 26 September, made the views of the Government absolutely clear. They have been reiterated in a national statement by Ireland at the Human Rights Council in Geneva on 27 September. We have expressed our full solidarity with the people of...

Written Answers — EU Summits: EU Summits (2 Oct 2007)

Dermot Ahern: I continue to be gravely concerned at the ongoing deterioration in the situation in Zimbabwe. The hardship and deprivations being experienced by ordinary Zimbabweans are an affront to values which Europe and Africa share. The dire situation gives added urgency to the efforts being made by President Mbeki and SADC to broker a political accommodation between the parties and an economic rescue...

Written Answers — International Agreements: International Agreements (2 Oct 2007)

Dermot Ahern: During the 1960s and 1970s the issue of Rockall was a source of some legal and political controversy in both Ireland and the United Kingdom. Much of that controversy arose from fears at the time that jurisdiction over Rockall and similar rocks and skerries was thought to be central in supporting claims to the mineral rights in the adjacent seabed and to fishing rights in the surrounding...

Written Answers — Crime Levels: Crime Levels (2 Oct 2007)

Dermot Ahern: Over the last decade, the number of Irish citizens travelling and living abroad has increased dramatically; they are now to be found in a wider range of locations throughout the world than ever before. As a result, the need for consular assistance and support continues to increase. For example, the number of visits abroad in 2006 was almost 7 million. The vast majority of these visits are...

Written Answers — Emigrant Support Services: Emigrant Support Services (2 Oct 2007)

Dermot Ahern: The Deputy will be aware that efforts by the United States Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation failed to get the necessary support earlier this year. This was a major disappointment and a setback for the thousands of undocumented Irish people in the United States, and also for their families in Ireland. It is now widely considered that this important issue is...

Written Answers — Passport Applications: Passport Applications (2 Oct 2007)

Dermot Ahern: The Passport Office can only issue a passport to an Irish Citizen. In the case referred to by the Deputy, the applicant needed to acquire a Foreign Birth Registration (FBR) certificate. An FBR certificate is required in all cases where an applicant wishes to claim citizenship through a grandparent. I understand that a certificate has now been issued by the Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. As a...

Written Answers — Departmental Bodies: Departmental Bodies (2 Oct 2007)

Dermot Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 306 and 307 together. The Advisory Board for Irish Aid, which replaced the Irish Aid Advisory Committee (IAAC), was established in August 2002 to provide general oversight and advice to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister of State for Overseas Development on the strategic direction of the Government's programme of assistance to developing...

Written Answers — Appointments to State Boards: Appointments to State Boards (2 Oct 2007)

Dermot Ahern: There are currently four bodies under the aegis of my Department. They are: The Advisory Board for Development Cooperation Ireland (formerly the Advisory Board Ireland Aid); The Development Education Advisory Committee; The Board of the Ireland – United States Commission for Educational Exchange (Fulbright Commission); and The Díon Committee, which advises on support for our emigrant...

Written Answers — Diplomatic Representation: Diplomatic Representation (2 Oct 2007)

Dermot Ahern: Ireland has a network of 74 resident diplomatic and consular Missions abroad, as well as the British-Irish Intergovernmental Secretariat in Belfast and the North-South Ministerial Council Joint Secretariat in Armagh. While the opening of new Embassies abroad is considered by the Government on an ongoing basis, any expansion of our diplomatic network can only be undertaken having regard to...

Written Answers — Northern Ireland Issues: Northern Ireland Issues (2 Oct 2007)

Dermot Ahern: The restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive on 8 May last was the culmination of the Government's intensive work, in partnership with the British Government, to achieve full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement and the sustained operation of all its institutions. As a member of the Government delegation at Stormont on that occasion, I had the opportunity to meet...

Written Answers — Missing Persons: Missing Persons (27 Sep 2007)

Dermot Ahern: The Department of Foreign Affairs provides consular assistance to Irish citizens overseas through its embassies and consulates. However, the Department does not have the authority or capacity to independently investigate the whereabouts of a person, or to disclose any personal information relating to a person, in the absence of that individual's agreement or a court order. The person referred...

Written Answers — International Agreements: International Agreements (27 Sep 2007)

Dermot Ahern: In July 2005, President Bush and Prime Minister Singh agreed to establish a new strategic partnership between their two countries. One element of that partnership was to be a proposed agreement on civil nuclear cooperation. In March 2006, the two leaders announced that broad agreement on the elements of a deal on the nuclear issue had been reached. In December 2006, President Bush signed into...

Written Answers — Passport Applications: Passport Applications (27 Sep 2007)

Dermot Ahern: The two children referred to by the Deputy are not Irish citizens and are therefore not entitled to be issued with Irish passports. As the Deputy is aware, these children were adopted in Libya. The position is that the Adoption Board does not recognise Libyan adoptions under Irish law, and that these adoptions cannot be entered in the Register of Foreign Adoptions recognised by the Board. The...

Written Answers — Diplomatic Representation: Diplomatic Representation (27 Sep 2007)

Dermot Ahern: The death of the person mentioned by the Deputy was a dreadful tragedy and I have the greatest sympathy for the family concerned. My Department, through the consular section of our embassy in Madrid and our Honorary Consulate in Lanzarote, has been providing extensive consular assistance in relation to this case. Officials from my Department have met with the family concerned several times...

Written Answers — International Agreements: International Agreements (26 Sep 2007)

Dermot Ahern: As the Deputy will be aware, there are a large number of international agreements within the UN and Council of Europe frameworks, covering a very wide range of subjects and falling within the functional responsibility of a number of Departments. The question of ratification of these agreements is kept under review in the context of the ongoing assessment and prioritisation of Ireland's...

Written Answers — Diplomatic Representation: Diplomatic Representation (26 Sep 2007)

Dermot Ahern: The person to whom the Deputy refers was arrested in 2004 at Mumbai Airport and charged with drug trafficking offences. Following his trial he was sentenced to ten years in prison. I understand that the individual alleges that he confessed to the charges under duress and is appealing the guilty verdict. He is currently detained in prison in Rajasthan pending the hearing of his appeal. No date...

Written Answers — Diplomatic Relations: Diplomatic Relations (26 Sep 2007)

Dermot Ahern: Relations between Ireland and Cuba have developed in recent years, particularly since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1999. Our Ambassador in Mexico City is accredited to Cuba. In 2001, Cuba established a resident Embassy in Dublin, which has been headed by a resident Ambassador since October 2005. Prior to that the Embassy was headed at Chargé d'Affaires level, with the Cuban...

Written Answers — Foreign Conflicts: Foreign Conflicts (26 Sep 2007)

Dermot Ahern: The issue to which the Deputy refers concerns a long-term dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom regarding the question of sovereignty over the territories of the Falkland (Malvinas), South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, to which both countries lay claim. Since 1965, the United Nations General Assembly has adopted ten Resolutions on the question of the Falkland Islands...