Results 28,661-28,680 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: EU Agreements (27 Jun 2018)

Simon Coveney: The Government has strongly supported the conclusion of the EU-Cuba Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement, which was signed by each member state and the Cuban Minister for Foreign Affairs in the margins of the Foreign Affairs Council in December 2016. This was the first bilateral agreement to be signed between the EU and Cuba. Its signature marked a further positive step forward in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: EU Agreements (27 Jun 2018)

Simon Coveney: I am anxious to do that as quickly as we can. I have committed in this answer to have it done before the end of the year. There are only a few weeks left before we break up for the summer. I understand that legal advice is required on this before I can bring a recommendation to Government. I assure the Deputy that I am anxious to do that as quickly as possible. The Government sees the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: EU Agreements (27 Jun 2018)

Simon Coveney: All I can say is that I will try to ensure that if this question comes up again towards the end of the year, we will have a more conclusive answer. It is important to say that only half of the EU member states have ratified the agreement. The other half have not and Ireland is in that half. I want to deal with this issue as quickly as we can and I will endeavour to come back to the Deputy...

Other Questions: Passport Applications (27 Jun 2018)

Simon Coveney: I propose taking Questions Nos. 32 and 67 together. The Passport Service is currently in its peak season for passport demand with the vast majority of applications being received between February and August each year. More than 500,000 applications have been received to date. For the first five months of the year, applications received are up by more than 8%. The service monitors...

Other Questions: Passport Applications (27 Jun 2018)

Simon Coveney: I will tell the Deputy what I see as wrong. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of passport applications across multiple platforms. The online application process has worked well and we are ahead of our turnaround target times. In many cases, the turnaround time for half of online applicants is five days rather than ten days plus postage. Problems occur when children are...

Other Questions: Passport Applications (27 Jun 2018)

Simon Coveney: I am aware of the problems that have arisen this year because they have translated into political requests. Virtually every Member of this House has been asked to solve individual problems for families and constituents. That is an ineffective way of dealing with tens of thousands of passports each week. We have to put systems in place that deal more comprehensively with people's concerns....

Other Questions: Passport Applications (27 Jun 2018)

Simon Coveney: I agree that better communication is the key. If thousands of people are trying to get through to the Passport Office at the same time, such volumes clearly make it impossible for the relatively small number of staff in the office to speak to everybody. It is important to note that changes for the better have been made in recent years. As a result of the use of technology and online...

Other Questions: British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference (27 Jun 2018)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 33, 41, and 66 together. The Government has consistently affirmed its unwavering commitment to the Good Friday Agreement, GFA, and its determination as co-guarantor of the agreement to secure the effective operation of its east-west and North-South institutions. The devolved power-sharing institutions are central to the Agreement. They represent the best...

Other Questions: British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference (27 Jun 2018)

Simon Coveney: I do not disagree with anything the Deputy has just said. There needs to be urgency. The two Governments need to work together. Significant issues linked to Brexit are being discussed by the two Governments, which involves Northern Ireland, Border issues and east-west relationships. The focus in London has been on the build-up to the June summit relating to Brexit. Anybody who watches...

Other Questions: British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference (27 Jun 2018)

Simon Coveney: The two Governments need to work together with all of the parties in Northern Ireland to progress a dialogue that can result in a functioning executive again, in all likelihood post summit.

Other Questions: British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference (27 Jun 2018)

Simon Coveney: One of the most impressive contributions that day was from Peter Robinson, former leader of the DUP, who gave a very positive contribution in the spirit of reaching out. I assure the Deputy that the import of this issue is not lost on me. I have spent much time north of the Border and have learned a lot in the last year about the complexity of the political challenges in Northern Ireland....

Other Questions: British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference (27 Jun 2018)

Simon Coveney: Some of the questions have been paired. We just dealt with three questions together.

Other Questions: Humanitarian Aid (27 Jun 2018)

Simon Coveney: I was at a Foreign Affairs Council meeting on Monday and a General Affairs Council meeting yesterday when I read and heard about the plight of the new vessel, the MV Lifeline, which is on its way to Malta. It was unable to dock elsewhere in the Mediterranean. There are 230 migrants on that ship. The conditions on the ship are not good. I felt that Ireland should show some solidarity with...

Other Questions: Humanitarian Aid (27 Jun 2018)

Simon Coveney: There is an intensive political debate going on in Europe right now about how we can put together a collective and comprehensive response to the migrations challenges that we have. I do not agree with the Deputy when he says that our decision yesterday does not really mean anything. I was Minister for Defence when we agreed to send a ship to the Mediterranean, which was the first time we...

Other Questions: Humanitarian Aid (27 Jun 2018)

Simon Coveney: We have been proactive but it is not enough yet. There are substantial new schemes to try to ensure that we stem the flow of migrants coming from many African countries - Nigeria, Mali and many others - via what is essentially a trafficking route through Libya. We are working with governments in countries where the migration begins. We are also trying to deal robustly with traffickers and...

Other Questions: International Election Monitoring (27 Jun 2018)

Simon Coveney: The Government issued a statement expressing serious concerns when the co-chairs of the HDP, Figen Yüksekdağ and Selahattin Demirtaş, were arrested in November 2016. Ireland made clear its concerns regarding the proportionality of the Turkish authorities’ response to the attempted coup in July 2016, and regarding the scale of the arrests of human rights defenders,...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Applications Data (27 Jun 2018)

Simon Coveney: The turnaround timeframe for a passport application will depend, in the first instance, on the channel through which the application was submitted. The Passport Service provides a range of channels to Irish citizens wishing to apply for a passport. These include a postal application system, an online passport application service, in person counter application facilities in Dublin and Cork and...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Northern Ireland (27 Jun 2018)

Simon Coveney: I am aware that the Deputy has raised concerns about the length of the time some prisoners in the separated regime spend on remand prior to facing trial. My officials have engaged with the Northern Ireland Office and the Department of Justice in relation to the concerns raised by the Deputy. A recent NI Audit Office report showed that there are significant delays in delivering justice in...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights (27 Jun 2018)

Simon Coveney: The humane approach of Spain to migration was evident in the recent decision of its Government to allow the Aquariusto dock at Valencia port and to permit over 600 migrants to disembark. There has been an increase in migration into Spain in recent months. So far this year over 10,000 migrants have arrived via the so-called Western Mediterranean Route. The represents an increase of over 50%...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Applications Administration (27 Jun 2018)

Simon Coveney: The turnaround timeframe for a passport application will depend on the channel through which the application was submitted. The Passport Service provides a range of channels to Irish citizens wishing to apply for a passport. These include a postal application system, an online passport application service and in person counter application facilities in Dublin and Cork. The quickest and...