Ceisteanna Parlaiminte

Ukrainian Conflict

Brendan Smith

1. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Ireland’s position on the deteriorating situation in the Ukraine; if he has had contact with his Russian counterpart on this matter; if he will provide an update on the discussions he has had about the incursion into Irish airspace by Russian military aircraft; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8340/15]

Middle East Peace Process

Seán Crowe

2. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide an update on his recent trip to Israel, Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan; and if his Department have plans to formally recognise the state of Palestine. [8447/15]

Syrian Conflict

Maureen O'Sullivan

3. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will stress the urgency at European Union and United Nations levels in realising a political solution to the crisis in Syria; and if he will ensure commitments made on humanitarian aid are realised. [8342/15]

Northern Ireland Issues

Brendan Smith

4. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide an update on the implementation of the Stormont House Agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8341/15]

Northern Ireland

Maureen O'Sullivan

5. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will set a date to meet the Justice for the Forgotten group and the Pat Finucane Centre in relation to issues concerning them in the Stormont House Agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8239/15]

Foreign Conflicts

Mick Wallace

6. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has learnt lessons from the 2011 North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO, intervention in Libya, where matters have continued to deteriorate of late; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8198/15]

International Relations

Ruth Coppinger

7. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will report on meetings, or contact, he has had with the new Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs. [8250/15]

UK Referendum on EU Membership

Seán Kyne

8. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will elaborate on the aim, contained in the Global Island, Ireland's Foreign Policy for a Changing World, of Ireland as a neighbour of the United Kingdom, to work to encourage that country's continued membership of the European Union; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8268/15]

Middle East Peace Process

Thomas Pringle

9. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views regarding Israel's recent intensification of plans to construct 450 new settlements in the West Bank; the representations his Department will make denouncing any potential fast-tracking of construction of illegal settlements in the lead-up to Israel's March 2015 elections; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8303/15]

Military Aircraft Landings

Clare Daly

10. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if there are plans to transfer responsibility for the oversight of all military aircraft, including civilian aircraft carrying troops, and seeking weapons exemptions, passing through Irish airports and airspace, to his Department, in the interests of transparency and accountability; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8085/15]

Northern Ireland

Clare Daly

11. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views in relation to the representations he has made to the British and Northern Ireland authorities in relation to the escalating tensions in Maghaberry prison and the failure to implement the stock take agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8086/15]

Undocumented Irish in the USA

Brendan Smith

12. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his plans to meet with the Administration of the United States of America in relation to the urgent need to progress the proposed immigration reform legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8234/15]

Humanitarian Aid Provision

Maureen O'Sullivan

13. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will address, at United Nations and European Union levels, the seriousness of the ongoing crisis in South Sudan, the lack of air access to hard-to-reach areas, the real possibility of famine, in the coming weeks, and the lack of political will, to bring about a resolution to the current crises. [8238/15]

Foreign Conflicts

Seán Crowe

14. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to an attempted coup in Venezuela that was foiled and revealed on 12 February 2015; his views on attempted anti-democratic coups in Venezuela; and if he will contact the Venezuelan Government to outline his support for the democratic institutions of the Venezuelan state. [8278/15]

Electoral Reform

Brendan Smith

15. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide an outline of the discussions he has had with Irish emigrant groups in relation to their ongoing campaigns to participate in the Irish electoral process, such as elections to a reformed Seanad Éireann; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8236/15]

UN Committees

Maureen O'Sullivan

16. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will support Ireland's engagement and participation in the first session of the UN debt resolution mechanism ad hoc committee, which Ireland voted against, due to take place in February; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4707/15]

Northern Ireland

Brendan Smith

17. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his plans to take any particular initiative in relation to the need to progress outstanding aspects of the Good Friday and Saint Andrews Agreements including the establishment of a civic forum, the introduction of a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland, the introduction of an Irish Language Act; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8237/15]

UN Funding

Seán Crowe

18. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the current shortfall crisis around funding that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East is experiencing; his plans to increase Ireland’s funding to the agency; and if he will encourage international partners to increase their support to the vital work of the agency. [8275/15]

Ukrainian Conflict

Bernard Durkan

19. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the extent to which the European Union, the United Nations and the international community, in general, are in a position to bring about a peaceful solution to the situation in Ukraine, with particular reference to the need to establish safe areas and zones for the civilian population; if European Union or United Nations peacekeepers will be effectively deployed to the area, at an early date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8280/15]

Northern Ireland

Maureen O'Sullivan

20. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his engagement with the British Secretary of State and Northern Ireland authorities, regarding the ongoing issues in Maghaberry Prison; and his views that the serious tensions in the prison have to be addressed in a fair and equitable way. [8241/15]