Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Green Party will vote confidence in the Minister, Deputy Coveney, and the Government this evening. I have known Deputy Coveney for some time. He was already an experienced Deputy when I first came here in 2002. After spending time as a Member of the European Parliament, he came back here as an Opposition spokesperson when I was Minister. He was tough and gruelling but he is fair, knowledgeable, committed and sincere in all the dealings I have had with him.

I have seen the Minister's work on Brexit. Anyone here involved in anything to do with Brexit will have seen the very open way in which the Minister involved other parties and every section of our society in our approach to Brexit. That shows what a capable Minister for Foreign Affairs he has been and is at present. I am working with Deputy Coveney on the likes of the UN Security Council at the moment, at a critical time in this country's history, when we can address key issues like climate change, as the Minister is doing in the UN Security Council and elsewhere.

We need Ministers who can take initiative and who are willing sometimes to push the boundaries of what can be done. That was typical in terms of approaching the former Minister, Katherine Zappone, to take on this critical role involving freedom of expression and LGBTQ rights. That was not an unimportant job we were looking to get someone for, and I can see absolutely why a Minister might say to himself or herself, when considering that role, "Katherine Zappone would be a good person for that job."

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