Results 20,141-20,160 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Defence Forces Medicinal Products (24 Nov 2015)
Simon Coveney: -----that they are not looking to protect their troops from Lariam in the UK?
- Other Questions: Foreign Policy (24 Nov 2015)
Simon Coveney: The straight answer is that I do not. I do not think we should be making decisions on the basis of what people think in other parts of the world about who is using our airports and who is not. We have had a policy for many decades of facilitating the US with the use of Shannon Airport under a fairly strict protocol, which is the responsibility of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade....
- Other Questions: Foreign Policy (24 Nov 2015)
Simon Coveney: I have not.
- Other Questions: Foreign Policy (24 Nov 2015)
Simon Coveney: I have not said that.
- Other Questions: Foreign Policy (24 Nov 2015)
Simon Coveney: I did not quote Deputy Wallace.
- Other Questions: Foreign Policy (24 Nov 2015)
Simon Coveney: With respect, Deputy Wallace is straying into sweeping statements on broad foreign policy.
- Other Questions: Foreign Policy (24 Nov 2015)
Simon Coveney: They are sweeping statements. My job as Minister for Defence is to ensure that when we make the decision to send Irish troops to different parts of the world, they are making a positive contribution towards stabilisation, peace support and peacekeeping, and that is exactly what they do. My job is to be prepared when An Garda Síochána asks for assistance in terms of aid to the...
- Other Questions: Foreign Policy (24 Nov 2015)
Simon Coveney: This is not about being for or against the so-called "US military machine". The US intervenes in different parts of the world for all sorts of different reasons.
- Other Questions: Foreign Policy (24 Nov 2015)
Simon Coveney: There is no simple philosophy behind it. In many ways, the US is damned if it does and damned if it does not. When there is a crisis, people call on the US to intervene.
- Other Questions: Foreign Policy (24 Nov 2015)
Simon Coveney: When they intervene and if, sometimes, they make mistakes, everybody blames everything on them. Not all the problems are the fault of the military machine, as the Deputy seems to make out.
- Other Questions: Foreign Policy (24 Nov 2015)
Simon Coveney: It is exactly what the Deputy says every time we have questions.
- Other Questions: Defence Forces Properties (24 Nov 2015)
Simon Coveney: Under military regulations, married quarters have, in the past, been allocated to serving personnel upon request. Personnel who leave the Defence Forces or who vacate a married quarter property that had been assigned to them are required under regulations to return vacant possession of that property. Where the property is not vacated, those remaining in the property are overholding and,...
- Other Questions: Defence Forces Properties (24 Nov 2015)
Simon Coveney: This is exactly why we are talking to Kildare County Council about trying to ensure they can move from accommodation that is not theirs into some form of supported housing, if they are in a vulnerable position, or social housing. We have to move gradually towards recouping a property that belongs to the Department of Defence and is not the property of an individual. Of course people may want...
- Other Questions: Defence Forces Properties (24 Nov 2015)
Simon Coveney: There are 26 overholders residing in or near the Curragh Camp. We are looking at them all individually. We will try to be as supportive as we can but we cannot put in place some kind of blanket arrangement that ignores the presence in these houses of people who should not be in them and allows them to stay in those houses indefinitely simply because there is a housing crisis in some parts...
- Other Questions: Defence Forces Properties (24 Nov 2015)
Simon Coveney: The Department is not a housing body. Many people who are on housing lists at the moment would love to be living in this accommodation but are not.
- Other Questions: Defence Forces Properties (24 Nov 2015)
Simon Coveney: There may well be some overholders who can afford to rent or potentially buy their own properties. Is the Deputy saying it is okay for them to stay for as long as they want? We will try to take a fair and compassionate approach to people who are in vulnerable positions. We have been doing that. We have been reaching out to Kildare County Council to work in partnership with us on that....
- Other Questions: Defence Forces Properties (24 Nov 2015)
Simon Coveney: That will get the Deputy through the election.
- Other Questions: White Paper on Defence (24 Nov 2015)
Simon Coveney: I am glad the Deputy has asked this question because it allows me to clarify the matter in the House. I think the Deputy sometimes likes to paint me as some kind of-----
- Other Questions: White Paper on Defence (24 Nov 2015)
Simon Coveney: -----militarised warmonger.
- Other Questions: White Paper on Defence (24 Nov 2015)
Simon Coveney: If the Deputy had been part of the conversations that took place during the preparation of the White Paper, she would know that nothing could be further from the truth. We are talking about spending significant sums of taxpayers' money on building a peace and leadership institute in the Curragh. We hope it will train people from universities all over the world in how to keep peace rather...