Results 161-180 of 34,338 for speaker:Seán Fleming

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Supplementary)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Seán Fleming: That is okay.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Supplementary)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Seán Fleming: Okay. I will just finish on that.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Supplementary)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Seán Fleming: I will be brief. I thank the Deputy for his comments. He mentioned the work through trusted partners. I appreciate his positive comments on our embassy and diplomatic staff. On the funding, I can assure the Deputy that in respect of everything that is cleared at this Estimates meeting and cleared hopefully by the Dáil tonight, the cheques will go out in the morning. They are...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Supplementary)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Seán Fleming: I have two brief comments. Regarding the Washington property, negotiations are at a final stage. I have indicated where approximately that is. What I expect will happen is the existing property will go on the market and that will come back in to the Irish coffers in due course. We are seeing the gross outlay at this stage but there will be a net flow back in due course when the existing...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Supplementary)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Seán Fleming: I do not have the figures, so we will prepare a note to send back to the committee specifically on that query. We will be able to put more information in that note than I can give today.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Supplementary)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Seán Fleming: The additional funding primarily relates to the emigrant support programme. We have already received a number of applications under that fund this year. It is a grant system, mainly to the UK. There are some additional areas with which the Deputy will be familiar in the USA and Canada. We want to be in a position to approve those grants straightaway once we get approval from the...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Supplementary)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Seán Fleming: We will have a list of the grants we are paying out this year, which we will shortly supply it to the committee. The Covid fund was mainly for staff in the Passport Office. That is where we have the largest concentration of Department of Foreign Affairs staff. We had them working at home for a period, but we are now bringing people back. Staffing in the Passport Office was the main area...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Supplementary)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Seán Fleming: I thank the Chair for his very good comments and remarks. He mentioned his visit to Morocco and that he found great acknowledgement and appreciation of the effort Ireland has made. It is good to hear that being said here at home. He also mentioned the great work by Ambassador McIntyre out there. Our mission is to increase the number of embassies we have around the world. The most...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Supplementary)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Seán Fleming: I am sorry. I missed that question. I was distracted.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Supplementary)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Seán Fleming: There is a development in regard to MLAs in Northern Ireland having access, similar to Oireachtas Members, for public representatives.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Supplementary)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Seán Fleming: Yes, it is a very good system. I personally visited the call centre in Limerick last year and the calls were coming in at a rate of knots. While I was there, the clock was showing queries increasing and there was a separate facility on the screens showing queries coming in from public representatives. The centre was very active. In 95% of cases where there are difficulties, it is always...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Supplementary)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Seán Fleming: Yes. The renewals are outstanding. There are no plans to open other offices. People have asked for other areas to be considered as well but new offices are not required given that more than 90% of people are doing it online. Three years ago, the footfall was high but that has fallen away now. There are no immediate plans for a new office. We think the system has improved by leaps and...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Supplementary)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Seán Fleming: Initially, we rent in nearly every place because it is the quickest way of getting in and we can see if the premises are suitable. Ultimately, we like to purchase more because it is better in the long term. We have had a good discussion in Washington. It may mean selling the old building in due course if it is no longer of suitable scale or fit for purpose. We are involved in 177 premises...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Supplementary)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Seán Fleming: The reason it is coming from Vote 27 is the vast majority of funding we spend in Colombia goes through Vote 27 and that is why the funding for the premises there would tend to come from that. I have been in some of the countries I have been privileged to visit in Africa this year. I found the majority of embassy staff are directly involved in the projects on the ground. In some countries,...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Supplementary)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Seán Fleming: I take the point that you have to have knowledge in an area before you can deal with the area. As stated previously, the funding is directed exclusively to non-lethal support in line with the programme for Government, and to supply medical equipment, food, personal protective equipment and fuel. Through the European Union Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine, the Defence Forces...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Supplementary)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Seán Fleming: I think I am making it clear what our funding is directed to.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Supplementary)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Seán Fleming: That is a case that is ongoing for some time and I did not bring a note for the Supplementary Estimate on that topic. We will send an information note to the committee.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Supplementary)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Seán Fleming: We will address that in the note we send back.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Supplementary)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Seán Fleming: The note to the committee will cover that. I do not have detailed information on that to hand.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 27 - International Co-operation (Supplementary)
Vote 28 - Foreign Affairs (Supplementary) (28 Nov 2023)

Seán Fleming: I appreciate the points the Deputy makes. On the €2 million requested for the International Fund for Ireland, that is a fund and other countries contribute to it. We expect the programme costs will amount to approximately €20 million during the term of the strategy, which runs to 2025. There is a call for further funding just now, as opposed to next year. It is a matter of...