Results 14,521-14,540 of 16,849 for speaker:Dermot Ahern

Written Answers — Information Technology: Information Technology (4 Jul 2006)

Dermot Ahern: The Department of Foreign Affairs procures all its information technology requirements including software in accordance with EU and national procurement regulations and in consultation with the Department of Finance. The Department endeavours to award all contracts for its information technology requirements in an open and fair manner, ensuring the best value for money to the Department and...

Written Answers — Middle East Peace Process: Middle East Peace Process (29 Jun 2006)

Dermot Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 11, 34, 65, 70 and 80 together. The Government shares the widespread concern about the lack of progress in the Middle East Peace Process and the serious situation in the Occupied Territories. The immediate priority is to ensure there is no further escalation of the situation in Gaza. It is essential that all parties exercise restraint over the coming days. The...

Written Answers — EU Enlargement: EU Enlargement (29 Jun 2006)

Dermot Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 and 159 together. I last met the Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul in the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York in September 2005 and he used the opportunity to discuss the Cyprus issue. On that occasion he made it clear that while Ireland did not believe recognition of Cyprus by Turkey should be a condition for starting accession negotiations,...

Written Answers — European Council Meetings: European Council Meetings (29 Jun 2006)

Dermot Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 and 24 together. I represented Ireland at the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) on 12 June. The Council heard a report by Commissioner Mandelson on the status of the negotiations in the World Trade Organisation. Minister Ahern intervened to underline Ireland's insistence on the need for a balanced outcome to the current round of WTO...

Written Answers — Nuclear Disarmament Initiative: Nuclear Disarmament Initiative (29 Jun 2006)

Dermot Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 14 and 15 together. Ireland has a particularly close association with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which came into being following an initiative taken by the late Frank Aiken. His pioneering efforts were recognised when Ireland was invited, following the Treaty's negotiation, to be its first signatory in 1968. As the Minister...

Written Answers — Nuclear Programmes: Nuclear Programmes (29 Jun 2006)

Dermot Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 and 89 together. The question of Iran's nuclear programme is kept under constant review within the European Union at official level and is also the subject of regular discussions at Ministerial level, most recently at the General Affairs and External Relations Council meeting of 12 -13 June, which Minister Ahern attended. At this meeting Ministers discussed...

Written Answers — Foreign Conflicts: Foreign Conflicts (29 Jun 2006)

Dermot Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 17, 68 and 164 together. The crisis in Timor-Leste erupted in late April with the dismissal of some 600 soldiers, a third of the armed forces. Ensuing violence cost at least 37 lives and drove some 10-15% of people from their homes into makeshift camps. The security situation in Timor-Leste has been brought under control but the country remains tense. There...

Written Answers — Passport Applications: Passport Applications (29 Jun 2006)

Dermot Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 20 and 81 together. I was approached by sporting figures in Northern Ireland who were concerned that the requirements for Northern Ireland players were to change under FIFA regulations. The reported change would have had the effect of obliging all players who want to represent Northern Ireland to carry a British passport. This change, if brought into effect,...

Written Answers — Human Rights Issues: Human Rights Issues (29 Jun 2006)

Dermot Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 22, 56, 86 and 92 together. Ireland takes a consistently strong position on Burma, including in the European Union framework and at the United Nations. Together with our EU partners, we avail of all opportunities to call for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi, to condemn the abuse of human rights and fundamental freedoms and deplore the lack of progress...

Written Answers — Democratisation Initiatives: Democratisation Initiatives (29 Jun 2006)

Dermot Ahern: In the aftermath of Operation Murambatsvina launched by the Zimbabwean government in May 2005 and which resulted in an estimated 700,000 people being left homeless or without a livelihood, the former President of Mozambique, Mr. Joaquim Chissano, was requested by the African Union (AU) to act as a Special Envoy and mediate with both the Zimbabwean government and the opposition parties in...

Written Answers — EU Enlargement: EU Enlargement (29 Jun 2006)

Dermot Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 25, 37, 88 and 158 together. Accession negotiations are underway with two countries — Turkey and Croatia. Negotiations were opened with both countries on 3 October 2005 and an extensive screening process is currently ongoing, which scrutinises the compatibility of Croatian and Turkish legislation with that of the EU. The fact that this screening process is...

Written Answers — EU Enlargement: EU Enlargement (29 Jun 2006)

Dermot Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 26, 41, 83, 97 and 101 together. The forthcoming accession of Bulgaria and Romania will mark the completion of the Union's 5th enlargement — increasing its membership from 15 to 27 Member States. The June European Council confirmed that it is the Union's common objective to welcome both countries as members on 1 January 2007. The EU could, however, postpone...

Written Answers — International Agreements: International Agreements (29 Jun 2006)

Dermot Ahern: I refer the Deputy to my response of 10th November, 2005. On 18 December 2002, the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Draft Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (OP-CAT). Ireland, along with other EU partners, fully supported the draft Optional Protocol and worked for its adoption at the UN General...

Written Answers — Common Foreign and Security Policy: Common Foreign and Security Policy (29 Jun 2006)

Dermot Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 28 and 71 together. The ambition of the EU to be able to respond quickly to emerging crises has, and continues to be, a key objective of the development of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). An important aspect of ESDP is the development of a standby military rapid response capacity, in the form of Battlegroups. Almost all EU Member States have...

Written Answers — International Agreements: International Agreements (29 Jun 2006)

Dermot Ahern: The United Nations has for some time been considering the question of a new international legal instrument aimed at the protection and promotion of the human rights of persons with disabilities. The process formally began on 19 December 2001 when the UN General Assembly established an Ad Hoc Committee (AHC) whose mandate it is to consider proposals for a comprehensive and integral...

Written Answers — United Nations Agencies: United Nations Agencies (29 Jun 2006)

Dermot Ahern: The UN Human Rights Council is at present holding its inaugural session in Geneva. The current session began on 19 June and will continue until the end of this week. The next session will take place in September. My colleague, Minister of State Noel Treacy T.D., addressed this new body on behalf of the Government on 20 June. He called for the new UN Human Rights Council to make itself fully...

Written Answers — Human Rights Issues: Human Rights Issues (29 Jun 2006)

Dermot Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 33, 53 and 148 together. I would refer the Deputies to my statement in Dáil Éireann on 13 June 2006, in which I addressed in some detail the most recent Council of Europe report, that of Senator Dick Marty, the rapporteur appointed by the Committee on Legal Affairs of the Parliamentary Assembly. Despite the pervasive lack of hard evidence contained in...

Written Answers — Foreign Conflicts: Foreign Conflicts (29 Jun 2006)

Dermot Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 35 and 163 together. The famine of 1991 occurred in the same year as the overthrow of the government of Said Barre. For 15 years, civil war raged and Somalia was widely seen as a 'failed state'. However, in recent years, there have been some positive developments despite current difficulties. A National Reconciliation Conference, the fourteenth attempt to...

Written Answers — EU-US Summit: EU-US Summit (29 Jun 2006)

Dermot Ahern: I propose to take Questions Nos. 38, 103 and 149 together. The EU-US Summit, which took place in Vienna on 21 June 2006, provided an opportunity for both sides to underline the strength of the EU-US relationship in terms of trade and investment but also increasingly as partners in handling difficult situations around the globe. The Summit included discussions on, inter alia, foreign policy,...

Written Answers — International Agreements: International Agreements (29 Jun 2006)

Dermot Ahern: The Agreement for the Application of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of Our America was signed between the Governments of Bolivia, Cuba and Venezuela following a meeting of their Presidents in Havana on 28-29 April 2006. The Ambassador of Cuba has forwarded a copy of the Agreement to me, which is the only correspondence I have received regarding it from the signatory countries. The...