Results 101-120 of 1,981 for speaker:Conor Lenihan

Humanitarian Relief. (2 Feb 2005)

Conor Lenihan: I hate to be hard on this, but the Deputy has stated virtually nothing with which I could agree. I admire his ability to agree with the British Government for a change. It is marvellous to see, and perhaps we will see more of the same in coming weeks and months on other issues. He may see things as it does regarding criminality too. It is astounding to hear someone describe the Irish...

Humanitarian Relief. (2 Feb 2005)

Conor Lenihan: The Deputy, in his desire to be negative and oppositional in this House, may be on his own. Virtually every other party in the Seanad and in this House has acknowledged that the Irish response, at Government and non-governmental level, has been extraordinarily generous. For the Deputy's benefit, I would like to quote someone who is very highly regarded in the development community worldwide,...

Humanitarian Relief. (2 Feb 2005)

Conor Lenihan: I have no intention of adding further to my answer other to say that the Deputy's contribution is miserly in the extreme and in sharp contrast to the attitude adopted by the responsible Opposition parties, namely, Fine Gael and Labour. It is cheap beyond belief but somehow does not surprise me.

Written Answers — Millennium Development Goals: Millennium Development Goals (2 Feb 2005)

Conor Lenihan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 104, 115, 122, 174 and 186 together. Ireland attaches the greatest importance to the achievement of the eight millennium development goals. The United Nations Secretary General will conduct the first major review of progress towards the implementation of the goals in 2005. He has already expressed the view that greater effort will be required on the part of...

Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (2 Feb 2005)

Conor Lenihan: Afghanistan has embarked on an enormous political, economic and social transformation since it emerged from 23 years of conflict just three years ago. Much progress has been made. Millions of children have returned to school. There have been major investments in primary health care, water, sanitation and rural development. Economic growth rates are positive. There are major challenges ahead....

Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (2 Feb 2005)

Conor Lenihan: I have not had the occasion to discuss the level of our overseas development aid with the United Nations since the budget 2005 statements last December. Officials of my Department are, however, in regular contact with the United Nations funds, programmes and specialised agencies whose development work Ireland supports.

Written Answers — Humanitarian Assistance: Humanitarian Assistance (2 Feb 2005)

Conor Lenihan: Ireland has a strong record in responding to humanitarian emergencies in many parts of the world. Funding is provided to key partners such as UN agencies, NGOs and other international organisations which have a wide range of experience and skilled personnel. Government funding assists NGOs such as Concern, GOAL, Trócaire, Oxfam and others to place skilled personnel on the ground as quickly...

Written Answers — Debt Relief: Debt Relief (2 Feb 2005)

Conor Lenihan: The Government's policy on developing country debt, launched in July 2002, was jointly agreed by the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Finance. Both Ministers have endorsed the policy and are involved in its promotion. Implementation of the policy at official level involves effective co-operation between officials of the respective Departments. Officials from my Department participate in the...

Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (2 Feb 2005)

Conor Lenihan: Poverty reduction will continue to be the chief objective of the aid programme administered by Development Co-operation Ireland. Our aim is to address fundamental human needs such as food security, basic education, primary health care and a safe water supply in all of our development programmes. This is in line with the targets set out in the millennium development goals agreed by the...

Written Answers — Humanitarian Assistance: Humanitarian Assistance (2 Feb 2005)

Conor Lenihan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 245, 247, 249 and 251 together. The effective co-ordination of humanitarian relief is a key objective for all donors and organisations involved in responding to emergencies. Poor co-ordination can lead to duplication of effort, waste of scarce resources, poor identification of the most vulnerable and can ultimately cost lives. Ireland is actively engaged in...

Written Answers — Overseas Development Aid: Overseas Development Aid (2 Feb 2005)

Conor Lenihan: Recent statistics published by UNAIDS indicated that in 2004 nearly 40 million people were living with the HIV/AIDS virus. Sub-Saharan Africa, by far the worst-affected region, is now home to over 26.6 million people living with HIV/AIDS. Approximately 3 million new infections occurred there in 2004 while the epidemic claimed the lives of an estimated 2.3 million Africans in the past year....

Seanad: Tsunami Disaster: Statements. (2 Feb 2005)

Conor Lenihan: I welcome the opportunity to make a statement to the House. It is almost impossible to find words to adequately describe the tragic events that unfolded on the morning of 26 December 2004. We have all been shocked and humbled by the sheer destructive power of nature and the enormous loss of life involved which to date is estimated at close to 300,000 people. Over 2 million people have been...

Seanad: Tsunami Disaster: Statements. (2 Feb 2005)

Conor Lenihan: I thank the Senators who contributed to the debate. It was an education for me to see the level of erudition here. I assure Senator Scanlon that the child survivor issue is a priority for us and we are earmarking funds for that specific purpose. I thank Senator Bradford for his generous and kind remarks both on the response of the Government and that of the public. The issue of a geographic...

Seanad: Tsunami Disaster: Statements. (2 Feb 2005)

Conor Lenihan: I thank the Senator for the opportunity to clarify the position. Much as we might like private contributions to be part of the assessment in respect of the levels of aid, the OECD does not view private funding as part of the mix. The main reason for the OECD policy is both philosophical and fundamental. There is greater clarity in government donations rather than in those of citizens. It is...

Written Answers — Diplomatic Representation: Diplomatic Representation (9 Feb 2005)

Conor Lenihan: Mr. Chris Flood, former Member of Dáil Éireann and current chairman of the advisory board for Development Co-operation Ireland, has been appointed as an envoy to the tsunami-affected region, particularly Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. This appointment was announced in the Dáil on 26 January by my colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Dermot Ahern. The period of the...

Seanad: Overseas Development Aid: Motion. (9 Feb 2005)

Conor Lenihan: I thank Senator Feighan for his kind closing comments. I hope I have been up-front in the brief to date, although I may have been too up-front in the early period. However, it was important to state that we would not achieve the target rather than deceiving the public by stating it would be achieved and then not doing so, resulting in an enormous chasm of confidence in the political system as...

Seanad: Overseas Development Aid: Motion. (9 Feb 2005)

Conor Lenihan: ——that we have been involved in planned expansions of that both in Asia but critically and, more important, in Africa. Perhaps I was misinformed by the previous Chair who said that I had some latitude to speak a little further.

Seanad: Overseas Development Aid: Motion. (9 Feb 2005)

Conor Lenihan: I note that a number of other countries, including France and the UK, are looking at timeframes of somewhere around 2012 and 2013 for reaching the target of 0.7% of GNP. I have already stated publicly that a timeframe along these general lines seems reasonable and sensible for Ireland. Events in south-east Asia since St. Stephen's Day have both shocked and galvanised the world. Public...

Seanad: Overseas Development Aid: Motion. (9 Feb 2005)

Conor Lenihan: The idealism stemmed from our desire to focus on our international obligations. We will become a net contributor to the European Union and as we step up to the rostrum to do that we must also fulfil our international commitments. The Taoiseach's commitment in 2000 was a brave one which has energised the whole area of development aid, as is obvious from the debate this evening. More people are...

Seanad: Overseas Development Aid: Motion. (9 Feb 2005)

Conor Lenihan: On a point of order, the comments made by Mr. Wolfensohn, which I quoted last week, and Mr. Sachs, were made after the speech about the 0.7%——