Results 30,781-30,800 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (10 Apr 2019)

Simon Coveney: I will have to ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to come back to the Deputy on the detail of that matter, although she seems to know quite a lot about it already.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (10 Apr 2019)

Simon Coveney: I am not going to get into the detail of the activities of a Deputy when he is not here to defend himself. Deputy Rock is at the committee dealing with many of these issues.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (10 Apr 2019)

Simon Coveney: A number of Deputies have repeatedly raised the issue of Spinraza in the House. To update it, the HSE has advised that the company has responded with a revised submission, as it was invited to do. People who have been following the case will understand what I am talking about when I say that. The submission will be considered at the next meeting of the HSE drugs group, following which a...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (10 Apr 2019)

Simon Coveney: In his remarks the Taoiseach referred to Michelle O'Neill in her role as Minister for Health in the last Executive in Northern Ireland. I work with her on a regular basis and have a lot of time for her. We work well together in trying to find a way forward to re-establish the structures of the Good Friday Agreement for the betterment of everyone in Northern Ireland, from all backgrounds and...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (10 Apr 2019)

Simon Coveney: I join the Deputies in utterly rejecting and criticising recent policy decisions made by the Sultan of Brunei. It is barbaric to propose that anybody be stoned, never mind that people be stoned on the basis of their sexual preference or identity. It is a significant retrograde step and we have an obligation to speak out against it, as I am happy to do. As regards the event to which the...

Domestic Violence (Amendment) Bill 2019: First Stage (10 Apr 2019)

Simon Coveney: No.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Consular Services (10 Apr 2019)

Simon Coveney: As the Deputy will be aware, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, through the Irish Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Consular Assistance Unit in Dublin, has been providing extensive consular assistance to this citizen and his family since 2011. The Government has been active in supporting this citizen's request to return to Ireland and my Department, through the Irish Embassy in Abu...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Apr 2019)

Simon Coveney: That is a very interesting question. We are trying to increase supply in the property market to ensure that where possible we see a rental market changing for the better, where large commercial landlords are part of that rental market, providing a professional service at a fair and affordable price. One of the flaws in the Irish rental market is that approximately 85% of all landlords own...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Apr 2019)

Simon Coveney: I do not think it is either one or the other.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Apr 2019)

Simon Coveney: The priority needs to be the homeowner or the person looking to get affordable rent.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Apr 2019)

Simon Coveney: That is what this is for, to facilitate profits for international funds that want to come to Ireland to invest in a property market that is evolving or changing. We are trying to ensure that there is investment and that we increase the professionalism of landlords. In other European cities apartment blocks are often owned by one fund that is managed in a way that is in the interests of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Apr 2019)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Ceann Comhairle for that guidance. I can understand the Deputy's concern but we need to be careful about what we say here in the context of individual cases, particularly when there are court cases ongoing. I am not familiar with the status of the court case so I need to be careful. I would like to say more generally that the Government is totally committed to preventing and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Apr 2019)

Simon Coveney: As I said earlier, we need to be careful what we say, regardless of what is written in newspapers or what has been in the media, whether it is social media or mainstream media. We have to stand over what we say in this House ourselves because we should set the standard in cases such as this. Having said that, the issue the Deputy is referring to is a serious issue and of course legislation...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Apr 2019)

Simon Coveney: I thank Deputy Harty for those questions. I would have liked a much longer time to reply because I have a lot of personal interest in this area given that I am a former Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and a farmer. We know that Ireland is more exposed and more vulnerable to a no-deal Brexit or the wrong outcome from Brexit. Ireland exports more than €1 billion...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Apr 2019)

Simon Coveney: Food Wise 2025, the current agrifood plan for the country, is about sustainable growth and expansion. It is about ensuring that young people are still attracted to farming as a way of life and as a way of deriving an income. It is also about driving efficiency: driving down the carbon efficiency of how we produce food while sustainably realising the potential of a growing and expanding...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Apr 2019)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Deputy for his very reasonable approach to this issue. It is true to say that South Tipperary General Hospital has been under pressure, as have other hospitals, through the winter. Looking at the national picture, it is true to say that the trolley count through the winter months this year was about 13% less than last year and the lowest for the past five years. That being...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (11 Apr 2019)

Simon Coveney: Under the capacity programme for 2019, which has been agreed, provision is made for increases in capacity. As set out in the national service plan for 2019, 78 additional beds are planned for quarter one of this year, including a 40-bed modular build in South Tipperary General Hospital, which the Deputy referred to. The plan also refers to other hospitals. Funding has been provided in the...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (11 Apr 2019)

Simon Coveney: The Government is stepping up in this area. The Bill the Deputy referred to is in the Seanad. A conversation is happening between the Department and the Commissioner on a specific Garda fraud unit to respond to the concerns the Deputy has raised. I know that Deputy Michael McGrath only yesterday introduced new legislation which will go to Second Stage soon. We will look at the merits of...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (11 Apr 2019)

Simon Coveney: I understand that they will. The change to the boundary and the changed local electoral area boundaries that go with that will mean that the new city boundary will encompass a rent pressure zone for the whole city. I understand that what was the Ballingcollig electoral area, which is now becoming the Carrigaline harbour area, will also become a rent pressure zone in its entirety. It is the...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (11 Apr 2019)

Simon Coveney: I reinforce what the Deputy said about the report being outdated as it has been superseded in many ways by the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland.