Results 14,461-14,480 of 16,849 for speaker:Dermot Ahern

Written Answers — EU Enlargement: EU Enlargement (3 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 365 and 366 together. Accession negotiations were opened with both Turkey and Croatia on 3 October 2005. An extensive screening process is currently underway, in which experts from the Commission explain EU rules to the two countries and examine their strategies for adopting and implementing them. It is expected to take until the end of 2006 to complete the...

Written Answers — Human Rights Issues: Human Rights Issues (3 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: The Government has raised the issue of the detainees in Guantanamo Bay with the US Authorities on numerous occasions, with concerns being raised at the highest level when the Taoiseach, accompanied by myself, met with President Bush in Washington on 17 March 2006. We have always made it clear that we believe that detainees must be treated in accordance with the requirements of international...

Written Answers — Foreign Conflicts: Foreign Conflicts (3 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: While significant progress has been achieved in Afghanistan over the past four years very considerable challenges still remain, above all on the security front. In any country, developing the democratic structures, institutions and administrative systems necessary to provide essential public services and to ensure a secure environment for all its people is a process that takes time. The...

Written Answers — Citizenship Applications: Citizenship Applications (3 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: In accordance with the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Acts, 1956 to 2004, the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is responsible for determining entitlement to post-nuptial citizenship. This includes post-nuptial declarations made by persons resident abroad that were submitted to our Embassies and Consulates. The statutory provisions providing for post-nuptial...

Disclosures relating to the Mahon Tribunal: Statements (3 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: Deputy Ó Caoláin of all people.

Disclosures relating to the Mahon Tribunal: Statements (3 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: Deputy Ó Caoláin has a very short memory.

Leaders' Questions (3 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: A City West cheque.

Leaders' Questions (3 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: The Deputy is on his seventh party.

Leaders' Questions (3 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: Is that a big tongue in Deputy Rabbitte's cheek?

Leaders' Questions (3 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: Deputy Rabbitte was not there.

Leaders' Questions (3 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: He has been in so many parties he cannot remember.

Disclosures relating to the Mahon Tribunal: Statements (3 Oct 2006)

Dermot Ahern: No, he did not.

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (28 Sep 2006)

Dermot Ahern: The 2006 Estimate for the Department of Foreign Affairs consists of two Votes: €204.346 million for Vote 28 (Foreign Affairs) and €600.479 million for Vote 29 (International Co-operation). Vote 28 includes an allocation to provide for the biometric passport project. This project is on schedule and is expected to be completed within budget. Apart from savings made on this project, it is...

Written Answers — Northern Ireland Issues: Northern Ireland Issues (27 Sep 2006)

Dermot Ahern: The Department of Foreign Affairs has raised the Loughinisland murders, including recent media reports concerning new evidence in the case, with the British Government through the British-Irish Intergovernmental Secretariat. The British side responded that the case remains under active investigation and that further lines of inquiry are being followed up. The Department is also in ongoing...

Written Answers — Citizenship Applications: Citizenship Applications (27 Sep 2006)

Dermot Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 890 and 891 together. Under the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Acts, 1956 to 2004, a person born outside Ireland with a parent who was born in Ireland is automatically an Irish citizen by descent. A person who was born outside Ireland with parents who were also born outside Ireland but with a grandparent who was born in Ireland may become an Irish citizen...

Written Answers — Military Neutrality: Military Neutrality (27 Sep 2006)

Dermot Ahern: The Air Navigation (Foreign Military Aircraft) Order 1952 gives the Minister for Foreign Affairs primary responsibility for the regulation of activity by foreign military aircraft in Ireland. The regulation of the transport of munitions of war by civil aircraft is primarily a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Transport, to whom I understand an identical question has been put. The...

Written Answers — Mexican Presidential Election: Mexican Presidential Election (27 Sep 2006)

Dermot Ahern: Given the disputed outcome of the Mexican Presidential election on 2 July, the European Union, and Ireland nationally, expressed no view on the result pending the completion of the relevant processes under Mexican law, although an EU Election Observation Mission concluded that the conduct of the election had been fair. Following the definitive ruling of the Mexican Federal Electoral Tribunal...

Written Answers — Foreign Conflicts: Foreign Conflicts (27 Sep 2006)

Dermot Ahern: The Government has no information on the planning which preceded the Israeli military action in Lebanon, and I do not intend to speculate on the matter. Deputies will be aware that the immediate cause of the conflict was an unprovoked attack by Hizbollah on Israeli territory on 12 July, and the killing and capture of a number of Israeli soldiers. From the beginning, the Government called...

Written Answers — Diplomatic Representation: Diplomatic Representation (27 Sep 2006)

Dermot Ahern: The case to which the Deputy refers relates to five Cuban citizens who were convicted in the US in 2001 on charges ranging from espionage to first degree murder. A panel of three judges from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta overturned the 2001 convictions on 9th August 2005 and ordered a retrial based on new evidence. The Miami District Attorney duly filed an appeal against the...

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (27 Sep 2006)

Dermot Ahern: The Duty Officer services provided by the Passport Office were extended in June 1999 and the then Minister for Foreign Affairs, David Andrews T.D., wrote to all members of the Oireachtas on 25 June of that year outlining the features of the new scheme. The Department operates two services whereby passport facilities are provided outside of working hours, by the Passport Duty Officer Service...