Results 29,681-29,700 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Coveney: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue because we will be returning to it repeatedly in the coming weeks and months. First, a European Council meeting is taking place today and tomorrow in which there will be a genuine effort by EU leaders and institutions to respond to the request of the British Prime Minister for more reassurance and clarity regarding the backstop, which has been the...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Coveney: Yes. This is part of a process of preparation that the Government, other member states and the European Commission are undertaking, as well as the preparation we are putting in place domestically. I will be happy to come back to that.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Coveney: I am surprised at the Deputy's response. It clearly shows he does not know what he is talking about.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Coveney: The point of sectoral seminars is that, as we have said on many occasions, we are working together with the European Commission, which has published 70 papers on behalf of all member states of the European Union. The member states are working together in areas of EU competence linked to Brexit. That is how this works. With regard to the areas where we must put domestic preparation in...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Coveney: We have been doing that with the people. I have been to Brexpo events in Cork, Galway, Limerick, Letterkenny, Monaghan and Dublin and, with respect, I did not see too many Fianna Fáil faces there.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Coveney: So we have been-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Coveney: That is not true Mattie-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Coveney: We did not-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Coveney: Perhaps if I could say that next week-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Coveney: Next week we will publish a document on contingency. We will bring it to the stakeholders group, which is meeting on Thursday and we will publish it after that meeting. I will happily provide briefings in advance of that stakeholders meeting for political parties, if they want that.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Coveney: The extension of the confidence and supply arrangement points to the difference between the approach of Deputy Doherty's party to politics and the approach taken by my party and the main Opposition party, which recognise that the State is vulnerable right now. We do not know what decisions will be made in Westminster in the coming weeks, but we have recognised that the challenge we may face...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Coveney: -----and that is already catered for. The Deputy may smile but the only contribution that Sinn Féin is making, for example to the discussion on Brexit right now, is to call for a border poll to make tensions even more acute in Northern Ireland than they already are. This Sinn Féin contribution is supposed to be constructive towards the national challenge we face right across the...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Coveney: We have spent a lot of time talking about housing in the context of the confidence and supply talks.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Coveney: We have a five year housing plan in train and we are meeting targets. We are delivering on output, which is the core problem. Supply is the problem in the rental market, in the house purchase market and in social and affordable housing. In all those areas we are taking forward our plans and we are delivering increases of supply across every sector. This is as it should be. We should be...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Coveney: Things are changing but I know they need to continue to change quickly. There are far too many families in emergency accommodation. There are far too many children in emergency accommodation, some of which is not as good as it should be in the context of hotel rooms, this year. I recognise this as a former housing Minister and as a Tánaiste. We are working night and day to change...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Coveney: The Deputy does not want to listen to the RTB.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Coveney: Let me quote the RTB. I am being accused of misleading the House.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Coveney: The RTB states very clearly that the results indicate that rent pressure zones are slowing the pace of increase.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Coveney: The Deputy asked a lot of questions. His party understands the housing challenges that we face very well. Housing was a Labour Party brief up until the middle of 2016. We are talking about challenges that have emerged because of a recession. Housebuilding essentially stopped in Ireland with the exception of one-off developments across the countryside. We went from building 90,000 housing...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (13 Dec 2018)
Simon Coveney: The rental challenge that we face is directly linked to that supply challenge.