Results 1-20 of 708 for "section:" . (isset($hansardmajors[$1]["title"]) ? $hansardmajors[$z[1]]["title"] : "$z[1]") speaker:Colm Brophy

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (21 Jan 2021)

Colm Brophy: Ireland's budget allocation this year for Official Development Aid (ODA), also known as Irish Aid, is €868 million, an increase of €30 million on the 2020 allocation. Of this total, €571 million is allocated to the Department of Foreign Affairs. €159 million is accounted for by Ireland's share of the EU Development Cooperation Budget. The remaining €138...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Emigrant Support Services (21 Jan 2021)

Colm Brophy: The Emigrant Support Programme (ESP) provides funding to non-profit organisations and projects to support our most vulnerable emigrants overseas, to strengthen Irish communities abroad and to facilitate the development of closer and more strategic links between Ireland and the global Irish. The budget for the programme in 2020 was €12.595 million. 529 applications for funding were...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Irish Aid (20 Jan 2021)

Colm Brophy: The Department of Foreign Affairs publishes the Irish Aid Annual Report on Ireland's Official Development Assistance, which includes statistical annexes based on material provided by a number of Government Departments and the Revenue Commissioners, in addition to that generated by the Department of Foreign Affairs. Prior to publication, draft statistical returns are run by the relevant OECD...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: International Agreements (13 Jan 2021)

Colm Brophy: Ireland has welcomed the Covid-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP). Consultations are ongoing across relevant Government Departments which look forward to receiving additional information on the Technology Access Pool with a view to considering practical engagement. The European Commission, on behalf of Member States, is engaging with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to obtain the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Irish Aid (13 Jan 2021)

Colm Brophy: My Department, through Irish Aid, has responded to the devastation caused by the hurricanes in November in Nicaragua and across much of the Central American region. I would like to express my solidarity with all those affected. Ireland, though Irish Aid, contributes to the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF), which provides immediate support to Caribbean countries...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Election Monitoring Missions (13 Jan 2021)

Colm Brophy: I refer the Deputy to the response to the Information Note on the Overseas Election Observation Roster prepared for the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade (JCFATD) and the Composite Note published on the election observation pages of the Irish Aid website, where the issues raised here have been comprehensively addressed and which are attached to this response. Matters pertaining to...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Election Monitoring Missions (13 Jan 2021)

Colm Brophy: The Department has checked its records, which do not appear to indicate a person of that name put themselves forward for consideration for membership of the volunteer Election Observation Roster under the most recent mustering. My officials would be happy to follow up with the Deputy directly.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Covid-19 Pandemic (13 Jan 2021)

Colm Brophy: The Covid-19 pandemic and the global search for a vaccine has demonstrated the importance of pooling resources, scientific information and knowledge in order to protect people, including in poorer countries. Any endeavour to enhance resources available, and share relevant knowledge, should be welcomed and supported. During this public health crisis, a well-functioning ecosystem for the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Policy (13 Jan 2021)

Colm Brophy: The conflict in Syria has triggered the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. Refugees from Syria are the biggest refugee population from a single conflict in a generation, with over 5.5 million having fled to neighbouring countries. Lebanon, with over 1.5 million Syrian refugees, hosts the largest numbers of refugees per capita in the world, 20 per cent of its population. The...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: United Nations (13 Jan 2021)

Colm Brophy: The Great Green Wall is a Pan-African initiative to restore and sustainably manage land in the Sahel-Saharan region, covering more than 20 African countries. The intervention zone dedicated to the Great Green Wall spans a length of at least 7000 km between Senegal and Djibouti and is home to some 232 million people. To reach its targets the initiative needs to rehabilitate 8.2 million...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: UN Security Council (13 Jan 2021)

Colm Brophy: Breast ironing is a form of gender based violence (GBV) and is one of many harmful practices suffered by millions of women and girls globally. Practices such as this, as highlighted by a recent UNFPA report, must be tackled to achieve gender equality. The report highlighted the importance of tackling the root causes, in particular gender-biased norms in society, and the need to invest in...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Climate Change Negotiations (13 Jan 2021)

Colm Brophy: The Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union (FAC) has yet to deliberate on measures to deter carbon offshoring. The FAC is due to discuss the issue of Climate and Energy Diplomacy on 25 January and Council Conclusions are currently under negotiation. Following adoption of the Council Conclusions on the 25 January we can then look forward to presentation by the Commission of a proposal...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Climate Change Policy (13 Jan 2021)

Colm Brophy: In 2019 the Department of Foreign Affairs disbursed €71,327,000 for climate adaptation and climate mitigation activities from the Department's budget for Official Development Assistance. This was a significant increase on the €64,754,000 finance disbursed by the Department in 2018, demonstrating a continued positive trend towards Government's commitment to double the percentage...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (13 Jan 2021)

Colm Brophy: Development cooperation needs to be people-centred and respond to national priorities. Promoting national ownership is one of the key principles of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. Ireland believes that national ownership is essential to the success of development, especially in reaching the furthest behind first. Ireland also recognises that Parliaments have a critical role...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: United Nations Population Fund (17 Dec 2020)

Colm Brophy: I propose to take Questions Nos. 360 and 361 together. Ireland is the 14th largest core contributor to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the 24th largest contributor overall, in line with the priority which the Government's policy on international development, A Better World, attaches to gender. The question of additional core contributions to UNFPA is reviewed periodically, in...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Election Monitoring Missions (17 Dec 2020)

Colm Brophy: I propose to take Questions Nos. 362 and 363 together. I refer the Deputy to the response to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 292 and 293 of 15 December 2020. As well as the Information Note on the Overseas Election Observation Roster prepared for the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade (JCFATD) and the Composite Note published on the election observation pages of the Irish Aid website,...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Election Monitoring Missions (15 Dec 2020)

Colm Brophy: I propose to take Questions Nos. 292 and 293 together. The Department of Foreign Affairs enables participation by Irish citizens in overseas election observation missions organised by the EU and the OSCE through nomination of volunteers from our Election Observation Roster. The current roster (2019-2023) was mustered through an open, competitive application process in 2018. Although Ireland...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights (15 Dec 2020)

Colm Brophy: I am aware of the case raised by the Deputy. The person whose details are supplied is a child who was sentenced to ten years in prison by a Sharia Court in the State of Kano, northern Nigeria, following a conviction for blasphemy handed down on 10 August. Following the sentencing, on 16 September UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, called on the Nigerian Government and the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (10 Dec 2020)

Colm Brophy: I remain deeply concerned by the ongoing armed conflict between the Federal Government of Ethiopia and the regional authorities in Tigray, including reports of atrocities and targeting of ethnic groups. There are credible allegations of mass casualties and of human rights abuses, although the ongoing communications blackout has made it very difficult to verify information.  ...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (9 Dec 2020)

Colm Brophy: The organisation in question was awarded a one-year grant of €250,000 under the 2018 Civil Society Fund for their project to improve access to early childcare and education and protection in Ethiopia. As far as my Department is aware, the organisation was not under statutory investigation at the time of the grant award. The Charities Regulatory Authority appointed investigators to...