Results 521-540 of 2,477 for speaker:Colm Brophy

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Irish Communities Abroad (10 May 2022)

Colm Brophy: The most recent in-person meeting of the Interdepartmental Committee on Diaspora Policy took place  in February 2021.  Two subsequent in-person meetings were postponed due to Covid restrictions with discussions taking place online at official level.  The next meeting of the Committee is scheduled to take place at the end of this month. The new Diaspora Strategy 2020-2025...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Ukraine War (10 May 2022)

Colm Brophy: I remain extremely concerned by the humanitarian situation in Ukraine. In addition to prepositioned funds with UN and other partners, my Department, through the Irish Aid programme, has made over €20 million available to respond to the needs of Ukrainians most affected by the Russian invasion.  This includes funding through UN agencies including UN OCHA, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNFPA...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (10 May 2022)

Colm Brophy: The situation in Tigray and in other parts of northern Ethiopia is of grave concern. The conflict within Ethiopia which began in 2020 has had a devastating impact on civilians, with many killed or injured, and reports of widespread human rights violations. Over 9 million people are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. Against this backdrop, I welcome the Government of...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: United Nations (10 May 2022)

Colm Brophy: Ireland has played a leading role in the international response to the crisis in Ethiopia, at the UN Security Council, through our bilateral engagements, and within the European Union. Since taking up our seat in January 2021, Ireland has been to the fore of the Security Council’s efforts to address the crisis in Ethiopia. We believe that the Security Council has an important...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Ukraine War (10 May 2022)

Colm Brophy: The evolving humanitarian situation in Ukraine and for those who have fled Ukraine is of grave concern. At both EU and UN, Ireland has been active in encouraging coordinated international responses to those affected by the Russian invasion, including reporting on Minister Coveney's 14 April visit to Kyiv. In its review of Ireland’s Official Development Assistance (ODA)...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Irish Aid (10 May 2022)

Colm Brophy: A Better World, Ireland's international development policy, focuses Irish Aid’s work on meeting the needs of the furthest behind first, with an emphasis on those in the world’s poorest or climate-exposed countries, especially women and girls. The allocation to Official Development Assistance for 2022 is €1 billion, the highest ever and a 20% increase on last...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Policy (10 May 2022)

Colm Brophy: Conflict, climate change and COVID have combined to increase the need for humanitarian assistance, with the international response increasing from €20.65 billion to a record €27.85 billion in the period 2017-2021.Last year, this support meant that over 107 million people across 38 countries received food, medicine and other life-saving assistance. Ireland is playing our...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 May 2022)

Colm Brophy: How can the Deputy say we are heckling?

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Ukraine War (28 Apr 2022)

Colm Brophy: A feature of the war on Ukraine is that 90% of those who have been forcibly displaced from their homes are women and children, which makes them highly vulnerable.  Among these vulnerabilities is that women's access to health and other social services has been severely impacted, and a tenet of the €20 million Irish Aid response to date has been to ensure that these women are...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Electoral Process (26 Apr 2022)

Colm Brophy: I refer the Deputy to Parliamentary Questions No. 410 of 24 November 2020, No. 425 of 18 May 2021, No. 304 of 26 May 2021, No. 310 of 16 November 2021, No. 77 of 26 January 2022, No. 387 of 8 February 2022, No. 401 of 22 February 2022 and No. 391 of 1 March 2022. Ireland's current International Election Observation Roster of 197 volunteers, facilitated by my...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (26 Apr 2022)

Colm Brophy: In its review of Ireland’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) published in 2020, the OECD found Ireland to be an excellent humanitarian partner, with a large share of ODA going to fragile contexts. That report highlighted how Ireland uses diplomatic, development and humanitarian tools, aligned with flexible funding models to deliver results.  It is this combined model which is...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Irish Aid (30 Mar 2022)

Colm Brophy: Through the Irish Aid programme, my Department has already provided at least €20 million in humanitarian aid to those individuals immediately affected by the crisis resulting from the invasion of Ukraine. In addition to responding to the needs of those directly affected by the conflict, I am concerned about its wider impact, including on food security. Ukraine and Russia are leading...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Programmes (29 Mar 2022)

Colm Brophy: The Ireland-Palestine Scholarship Programme is part of the Ireland Fellows Programme, which brings promising mid-career professionals from partner countries each year to study for a master’s-level qualification at a University or Institute of Technology in Ireland. The Ireland Fellows Programme dates back to 1974 and is an integral part of my Department's Irish Aid international...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Overseas Development Aid (24 Mar 2022)

Colm Brophy: The Deputy is quite right in his analysis. We are working with the World Food Programme. As a small country, our best involvement is through large international organisations. Under our commitment with the World Food Programme we have put in €75 million from 2022 to 2024, increasing support to it. The Deputy is right to highlight that in a number of countries where the World Food...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Overseas Development Aid (24 Mar 2022)

Colm Brophy: I agree with the Deputy's emphasis on the longer term approach, particularly in respect of climate financing and adaptation. We are absolutely certain that a set of programmes is needed that enable food production to take place in a more localised way and make it as independent of inputs like fertilisers as possible. Stability of food production in key areas is needed. That is part of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Overseas Development Aid (24 Mar 2022)

Colm Brophy: Given their important role in the world’s food system, together providing 12% of the world’s traded calories, global food security has been damaged by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The most immediate impact has been the significant increase in the prices of wheat, sunflower oil and fertiliser, which is already affecting food prices in import-dependent poorer countries. ...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Sports Funding (24 Mar 2022)

Colm Brophy: The Deputy made an important point. One of the key things we tried to emphasise in the redesign of this fund, in conjunction with the GAA, was to move away from once-off sponsorship and to a programme of ongoing development, particularly in respect of trying to strengthen clubs at grassroots level and the skill level to benefit clubs. This refocusing is designed to give a much longer-term...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Sports Funding (24 Mar 2022)

Colm Brophy: The global games development fund is a matching funding partnership between my Department and the GAA that supports community-orientated GAA activities abroad. Established in 2012, it has been remarkably successful in the development of Gaelic games internationally and benefits hundreds of Irish communities abroad. It has grown from 14 projects in 2013 to over 100 projects this year....