Results 26,581-26,600 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Official Engagements (26 Jul 2017)

Simon Coveney: I visited Israel and Palestine on 10 - 13 July. This was not my first visit to the area, but it was my first as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, and in that capacity my first visit outside Europe, which I scheduled as soon as I took office. In Israel I met Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Netanyahu, and other Israeli Ministers and leaders, and called on President Rivlin. In...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: International Relations (26 Jul 2017)

Simon Coveney: I reiterate my deep concern at the deteriorating situation in Venezuela, a country faced with grave political, economic, and humanitarian crises. The past months have seen almost daily mass protests and violence in Venezuela, resulting in dozens of deaths in clashes between security forces and opposition demonstrators. The reported human rights violations, excessive use of force, and mass...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Ukrainian Conflict (26 Jul 2017)

Simon Coveney: The conflict in eastern Ukraine - now in its fourth year - has resulted in over 10,000 deaths, forced 1.7 million people to flee their homes and left an estimated 3.5 million in need of humanitarian assistance. Despite numerous commitments to a ceasefire, the security situation in eastern Ukraine remains fragile. While recorded ceasefire violations have decreased in recent weeks,...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Middle East Peace Process (26 Jul 2017)

Simon Coveney: Ireland and other EU partners strongly supported the initiative by France during 2016, which concluded with the second Paris Conference in January this year. However, those efforts were not able to restore momentum to the peace process, which remains stalled. There is no clear view at present in the European Union on the best way to try and encourage a resumption of talks. I look...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: International Relations (26 Jul 2017)

Simon Coveney: The European Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, respect for human rights and the rule of law. Dialogue has been ongoing between the European Commission and Poland regarding the Rule of Law since January 2016. At the General Affairs Council on 16 May last, Ireland along with a number of other Member States, stressed the importance of the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Funding (26 Jul 2017)

Simon Coveney: My Department is responsible for two votes - Vote 28 (Foreign Affairs and Trade) and Vote 27 (International Cooperation). For 2017, the Government has provided a total of €486.4 million under Vote 27 (International. cooperation) managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, for the Irish Aid programme. A series of indicative grants to partners is identified at the start of...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Brexit Negotiations (26 Jul 2017)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 411 and 413 together. The maintenance of the Common Travel Area following the UK withdrawal from the EU is a priority for both the Irish and UK Governments. The Common Travel Area pre-dates Irish and UK membership of the EU and is not dependent on EU membership. The Common Travel Area is particularly important in underpinning the Northern Ireland peace...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Brexit Negotiations (26 Jul 2017)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 412 and 417 together. As Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade with special responsibility for Brexit, I lead on coordinating the whole-of-Government approach to the EU-UK negotiations and to our preparations for Brexit, with a view to mitigating the impacts to the maximum extent possible and securing the best possible outcome for Ireland. In this...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Brexit Negotiations (26 Jul 2017)

Simon Coveney: I attended the General Affairs Council (Art. 50) on Tuesday 20 June. At this meeting, Michel Barnier, the EU’s Chief Negotiator, informed Ministers of the outcome of the first round of the negotiations with the UK on its withdrawal from the EU. I also met with Mr Barnier for a bilateral exchange on Brexit and on the EU’s position on the issues specific Ireland as set out in the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Diplomatic Representation (26 Jul 2017)

Simon Coveney: At present, Ireland’s diplomatic network includes 61 Embassies, 7 multilateral missions, 11 Consulates General and one Representative office. The configuration and scale of the State’s diplomatic network is kept under ongoing review by the Government. The Government is of course conscious of the political, economic, trade and other factors that might warrant the opening of...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Brexit Issues (26 Jul 2017)

Simon Coveney: As Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, I have responsibility for coordinating the whole-of-Government response to Brexit, including developing and setting out Ireland’s approach to the negotiations on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. The conclusion of a withdrawal agreement between the EU and the UK is a key priority for the Government. A failure to reach such an...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Brexit Issues (26 Jul 2017)

Simon Coveney: In order to ensure that Ireland’s key priorities and concerns in regard to Brexit are understood by our partners, the Government undertook an intensive campaign of engagement with our EU partners and the EU Institutions in the period leading up to the adoption by the European Council of the guidelines for the negotiations. This approach delivered for Ireland, with our unique issues...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Brexit Documents (26 Jul 2017)

Simon Coveney: Following the publication on 2 May of the comprehensive document setting out the Government's approach to the Brexit negotiations, which drew on the findings of sectoral dialogues held to date in the framework of the Civic Dialogue, as well as on analysis by individual Departments, work is underway across Government to prepare adaptive Sectoral Brexit Response Plans to mitigate emerging...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Brexit Negotiations (26 Jul 2017)

Simon Coveney: As Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade with special responsibility for Brexit, I lead on co-ordinating the whole-of-Government approach to the EU-UK negotiations and to our preparations for Brexit, with a view to mitigating the impacts to the maximum extent possible and securing the best possible outcome for Ireland. In this role, I intend to build further on the excellent work carried...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Export Trade Council (26 Jul 2017)

Simon Coveney: The Export Trade Council was last convened on 7 February by my predecessor Minister Charles Flanagan TD. On that occasion the agenda featured discussions on Brexit related developments, the new Trade, Investment and Tourism Strategy, Ireland Connected,and a review of Local Market Team plans submitted by Local Market Teams in priority markets. I had hoped to chair a further meeting of the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Brexit Negotiations (26 Jul 2017)

Simon Coveney: The second round of EU-UK negotiations, which took place last week, allowed for the first substantial discussions to take place on the issues that are being addressed in this first phase of the negotiations, including citizens’ rights, the financial settlement, ‘separation’ issues, and of course Irish issues. While some good progress was made last week, including...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: International Relations (26 Jul 2017)

Simon Coveney: I am aware of the referendum on independence announced last month by the President of the Kurdistan Regional Government. Ireland continues to support the territorial integrity of Iraq and does not propose to intervene in internal constitutional matters of Iraq, which are for decision by the Iraqi people and their democratically elected leaders.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights Cases (26 Jul 2017)

Simon Coveney: I have not been contacted by anyone connected with this case and I have no information on it other than open media reports. In view of this, I do not, at this point, have any plans to raise the case with the government of Iran.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Budgets (26 Jul 2017)

Simon Coveney: On an overall basis to end June 2017 my Department is showing a relatively small behind profile spend of €6 million (2%) on gross expenditure compared to profiled gross expenditure of €349 million. This is due to timing differenced in expected expenditure. The Department expects that the voted gross expenditure budget allocation for 2017 will be fully spent at year end.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights (26 Jul 2017)

Simon Coveney: My Department has been closely following this person’s case, and an Irish diplomatic representative was present at his most recent hearing on 9 July, along with other international representatives. The Irish representative Office in Ramallah has also been in close contact with him. I agree with the view that these charges seem to be part of an increasing pattern of using the...