Results 141-160 of 3,356 for speaker:Joe Costello in 'Written Answers'

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (24 Jun 2014)

Joe Costello: The Government’s development cooperation programme, Irish Aid, which is managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, reflects the values and experience of the Irish people and focuses on the fight against poverty and hunger in some of the poorest countries in the world. Access to quality education is one of the priorities of the programme, as reaffirmed in our new Policy...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Election Monitoring Missions (12 Jun 2014)

Joe Costello: The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade maintains a roster of individuals who are available to participate at short notice in election observation missions organised in the main by the OSCE and the EU. The Department aims to respond each year to as many of the requests as possible issued by these organisations. Full details of the election observation missions served by Irish election...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Election Monitoring Missions (12 Jun 2014)

Joe Costello: International election monitoring missions play an important role in the promotion of democracy and human rights. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade maintains and administers a roster of observers for such missions. The aim is to ensure that, when requested, Ireland is represented at an appropriate level in international observation missions for both elections and constitutional...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: International Agreements (5 Jun 2014)

Joe Costello: The Programme of Action adopted by the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo marked an important new consensus that increasing social, economic and political equality should be the basis for individual well-being, lower population growth, and sustainable development. In April this year, the United Nations Commission on Population and Development met...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Humanitarian Aid (28 May 2014)

Joe Costello: Angola has experienced high economic growth rates in recent years, but continues to face drought-related humanitarian emergencies, and the aftermath of 27 years of conflict. In particular, the widespread use of landmines during the conflict has held back agricultural development in some areas. A drought during the 2012-2013 agricultural cycle continues to have an impact on Angola’s...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Syrian Conflict (28 May 2014)

Joe Costello: The protracted and tragic crisis in Syria has resulted in unprecedented levels of humanitarian need, requiring a sustained response from the international community. The number of fatalities surpasses an estimated 150,000 people. There are now over 9.3 million people within Syria who are in need of immediate life-saving support, and a further 2.8 million Syrian refugees require assistance...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Humanitarian Aid (28 May 2014)

Joe Costello: Since the outbreak of the conflict in South Sudan in mid-December 2013, more than 1.2 million people have been forced from their homes and an estimated five million people are in urgent need of assistance. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), there is a serious risk of famine later this year unless adequate humanitarian assistance can be delivered to those most in need. This...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Humanitarian Aid (28 May 2014)

Joe Costello: Since the outbreak of the conflict in South Sudan in mid-December 2013, more than 1.2 million people have been forced from their homes and an estimated five million people are in urgent need of assistance. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), there is a serious risk of famine later this year unless adequate humanitarian assistance can be delivered to those most in need. This...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights Issues (28 May 2014)

Joe Costello: Human rights concerns remain central to our foreign policy. Ireland, together with our EU and UN partners, closely monitors the human rights situations in many countries throughout the world, including human rights situations of key concern on the African continent. This is conducted on the basis of information obtained from a variety of sources including both official channels and...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Humanitarian Aid (27 May 2014)

Joe Costello: Over 50 people are reported to have died and 950 000 people have had to evacuate their homes in the worst floods in Serbia and Bosnia Herzegovina in more than a century. In total, an estimated 1.5 million people have been affected by this flooding disaster in the Western Balkans region. On 15 May, the Governments of both affected states declared a state of emergency and requested assistance...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid Oversight (27 May 2014)

Joe Costello: I represented the Government at last month's inaugural High Level Meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation in Mexico. For Ireland an overriding priority for the partnership, and one which informed our participation in Mexico, is to renew momentum on strengthening aid effectiveness at country level. Ireland has a strong record on making aid more effective, on...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (27 May 2014)

Joe Costello: Our National Famine commemoration, as well as marking a very tragic and deeply important part of our history, also serves as an opportunity to remind ourselves that famine is still a contemporary issue in the world today, affecting the lives of hundreds of millions of people who live with food insecurity and hunger. One such example is Syria where the protracted and tragic conflict has...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Humanitarian Aid (13 May 2014)

Joe Costello: Despite oil revenues and high economic growth rates, Angola continues to experience drought-related humanitarian emergencies. The aftermath of a severe drought during the 2012-2013 agricultural cycle continues to have an impact on the country’s southern provinces. It is estimated that 1.8 million people in six provinces were affected by this drought. The effects on food supplies and...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (8 May 2014)

Joe Costello: I propose to take Questions Nos. 33 and 35 together. Tearfund Ireland is a faith-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), which was established in Ireland in 2008 and works to provide relief and long-term development assistance in sub-Saharan Africa and in Asia. Its aim is to transform the lives of the most vulnerable and marginalised by working with local civil society organisations,...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (8 May 2014)

Joe Costello: Partnership is the cornerstone of Irish Aid’s civil society policy. In line with international best practice and the principles of sustainability and ownership for development, Irish Aid values partnership with government and multilateral organizations and with non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Participation and collaboration with local organisations is critical in designing and...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (8 May 2014)

Joe Costello: I can confirm that I have received the correspondence referred to and have replied to the group of secondary school students involved. I warmly welcome their commitment to Ireland’s aid programme, to the role of education in fight against poverty and to the plight of child labourers. I also acknowledge their concerns about any reductions in the overall aid budget. The Government is...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Overseas Development Aid (7 May 2014)

Joe Costello: The second Millennium Development Goal aims for the achievement of universal primary education by the year 2015. Since the adoption of the Millennium Declaration at the UN in 2000, the world has made remarkable progress on investing in education. Between 1999 and 2009, the global school-aged population increased by 25% and primary school enrolment increased by 59%. However progress has not...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (6 May 2014)

Joe Costello: Ethiopia has been a priority country for Ireland’s aid programme since 1994. Through the programme, we have made a significant contribution to development and the fight against poverty and hunger in Ethiopia. In the past decade, the country has recorded remarkable improvements in human development as measured by the UN Human Development Index. This progress is an example of the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (6 May 2014)

Joe Costello: The Government remains deeply concerned about the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, and in particular the increasingly difficult situation in the east of the country. Together with our EU partners, we have emphasised the importance of a negotiated political settlement. We strongly support the agreement reached in Geneva on 17 April between the EU, Russia, Ukraine and the US. It sets out concrete...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Humanitarian Aid (30 Apr 2014)

Joe Costello: The protracted and tragic crisis in Syria has resulted in unprecedented levels of humanitarian need, requiring a sustained response from the international community. As the number of fatalities surpasses an estimated 150,000 people, there are now over 9.3 million people within Syria who are in need of immediate life-saving support, with a further 2.7 million Syrian refugees requiring...