24 Jun 2014, 16:27
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Eamon Gilmore TD appears before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade tomorrow afternoon.
24 June 2014
The meeting will consider the outcomes from Monday’s session of the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) in Luxembourg, where the Tánaiste discussed the on-going crisis in Iraq with his counterparts.
Chairman of the Committee Pat Breen TD says: “The deteriorating security situation in Iraq has been the source of grave concern to Committee Members, particularly in view of the appalling levels of indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians. We note the Tánaiste’s call at the meeting for the Iraqi Government to take a non-sectarian, inclusive approach to curb any opportunities for extremism to thrive. The Committee will have an opportunity to consider the alarming situation with the Tánaiste in detail at tomorrow’s meeting, and the approach that European Foreign Ministers are proposing to take to stem the crisis.
“The Luxembourg meeting also considered the situation in Ukraine, with newly appointed Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin addressing the FAC. As a Committee, we have followed events in the Ukraine closely, liaising frequently with both the Ukrainian and Russian Ambassadors in Dublin with a view to ensuring a peaceful and democratic conclusion to the conflict. We look forward to an update from the Tánaiste on recent efforts to restore stability there. The Tánaiste’s presence will also provide an opportunity to follow up on recent issues considered by our Committee, including the efforts to deal with the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria and how a looming famine in South Sudan might be averted.
\"The Committee will look forward to receiving an report from the Tánaiste on his meetings in Washington DC last week with a range of key Congressmen on immigration reform. It is recognised that reform of the immigration laws could have a positive impact on the tens of thousands of Irish men and women who are currently in the US illegally.The plight of the undocumented Irish is a priority issue for our Committee and we look forward to hearing an update on the prospects for immigration reform in the coming months.”
The meeting takes place tomorrow Wednesday 24 June in Committee Room 1, LH 2000 at 12 noon. The meeting can be viewed online here.
Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the move, through the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.
Media enquiries to:
Paul Hand,
Communications Unit,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 4484
M: +353 87 694 9926
Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade
Deputies:
Pat Breen, Fine Gael (Chairman)
Eric Byrne, Labour
Bernard Durkan, Fine Gael (Vice-Chairman)
Seán Crowe, Sinn Féin
Olivia Mitchell, Fine Gael
Gerald Nash, Labour
Dan Neville, Fine Gael
Brendan Smith, Fianna Fáil
Maureen O’Sullivan, Independent
Senators:
Mark Daly, Fianna Fáil
Lorraine Higgins, Labour
Michael Mullins, Fine Gael
David Norris, Independent
Jim Walsh, Fianna Fáil