Results 29,201-29,220 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Syrian Conflict (9 Oct 2018)

Simon Coveney: I am all too aware of the awful human suffering caused by the Syria conflict. There has clearly been a pattern of deliberate and indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure by the Syrian regime and its allies, as we saw in Eastern Ghouta earlier this year. These acts are reprehensible and in direct contravention of international humanitarian law and I have made my views...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Ministerial Communications (9 Oct 2018)

Simon Coveney: The ICT Unit of the Department provides a secure email service and the Department’s ICT Security Policy governs the use of the email system for all staff, contractors, agents and third parties. There is no stand-alone policy governing Ministerial use of private email and therefore the issue of publication does not arise. I use my Departmental secure email account for confidential...

Financial Resolutions 2019 - Financial Resolution No. 4: General (Resumed) (10 Oct 2018)

Simon Coveney: I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak on budget 2019 and its implications for the work of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade under Votes 27 and 28. As Tánaiste and Minister with responsibility for co-ordinating the Government’s response on Brexit I would like to outline what budget 2019 means in terms of Ireland's readiness for Brexit and whatever it may bring....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2018)

Simon Coveney: The Deputy asked a lot of questions - a lot of good questions. I caution against people taking their lead in respect of these negotiations from media reports today. There have been intensive efforts this week by both negotiating teams to try to find a way forward. As Mr. Michel Barnier said yesterday, the vast majority of the text of the withdrawal treaty has been agreed. That is not new;...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2018)

Simon Coveney: We are engaged in ongoing communication with the DUP. Sometimes it involves direct meetings, sometimes back channels, and sometimes officials talking to one another. I have always said, however, that we talk to and consult all parties in Northern Ireland, not just one. We need to listen to all their concerns. The DUP is a very important voice in Northern Ireland but it does not represent...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2018)

Simon Coveney: First, I am glad to put on the record the process that is under way to ensure the approximately 500,000 properties that will be unable to get high-speed broadband through normal commercial channels will be able to get it through a national broadband scheme which the Government is determined to deliver. The Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment has advised that the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2018)

Simon Coveney: First, I spoke to the Minister this morning. I rang him and he rang me back. It was a relatively brief conversation. I asked him to outline the detail for me, some of which the Deputy has asked about, and he did that. I expect that there will be no problem with publishing minutes of meetings. He has done that in respect of the minutes relating to the dinner in New York. The Minister...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2018)

Simon Coveney: Following on from the Deputy's remarks, I am sure he will agree that it would be inappropriate for me to discuss the detail of the procurement process and the proposal that is currently being assessed. The Deputy and I know that Enet is a company that manages metropolitan area networks, MANS, in which the State and the private sector have invested a great deal of amount. The company...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2018)

Simon Coveney: I will come back to them. The Deputy has cast aspersions perhaps on the appropriateness of Enet being part of a solution being proposed by a bidder.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2018)

Simon Coveney: My understanding is that Mr. McCourt is a telecoms investor and as such he is not someone that has nothing to do with telecoms.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2018)

Simon Coveney: He is a telecoms investor. He has invested in Enet in the past and he is now the lead bidder in a procurement process that is at a delicate stage. On Ministers meeting bidders-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2018)

Simon Coveney: -----it is not appropriate for a Minister to discuss the detail of any procurement process or bidding process while that tendering process is ongoing.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2018)

Simon Coveney: Deputy Howlin will be aware from his time in government that this bidding process has been ongoing for over three years. It has involved multiple different players in the Irish telecommunications industry. The idea that the Minister with responsibility for telecommunications would not have had discussions with the head of Vodafone, Eir or others-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2018)

Simon Coveney: -----over the past three years, because this tendering process has involved some of their companies, is not realistic.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2018)

Simon Coveney: They are crystal clear. It is inappropriate for a Minister to discuss the detail of a procurement process or a bid in the context of that Minister's Department assessing that bid. It is important to say that the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment has nothing to do with the assessment process of the bid in technical terms.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2018)

Simon Coveney: The Minister's responsibility is to come to Government for funding requests and to ensure that the process remains on track and on time. He has no role in terms of finalising the recommendation in regard to the bidding process. There needs to be, and has been, a separation between the Minister and his office and what is being assessed by the Department.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2018)

Simon Coveney: For reasons that I have outlined, namely, this has been a long procurement and tendering process that has involved multiple players in the telecommunications industry in Ireland. As Minister with responsibility for telecommunications, Deputy Naughten would have been at events where-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2018)

Simon Coveney: For much of this process, there was not a lead bidder. Two other-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2018)

Simon Coveney: -----companies were part of this process but pulled out. There is one remaining bidder. It would be, and is, inappropriate for a Minister to discuss with this bidder any detail that relates to the bidding process or the procurement process.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Oct 2018)

Simon Coveney: The Minister, Deputy Naughten, wants an opportunity to come before this House to explain that he maintained a separation between both processes.