Results 30,961-30,980 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 May 2019)
Simon Coveney: I know a bit about this issue because I was very much involved in the last discussion on the Common Agricultural Policy and how we would structure both Pillar 1 payments, which are direct payments, and Pillar 2 payments in terms of supporting more sustainable agricultural activity and maintaining and protecting the family farm structure, which is core to the make-up of rural Ireland. If we...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 May 2019)
Simon Coveney: It seems the Deputy does.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 May 2019)
Simon Coveney: There are issues in what the Deputy has raised, which I do not want to dismiss. We need to be careful though not to interpret trends in Irish agriculture on the basis of what is happening broadly across the EU. The starting position of many of the newer member states when they joined the European Union was one of very small farmholdings, in many cases with dairy herd sizes of five or six...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 May 2019)
Simon Coveney: It is not a coincidence that my party and this Government advocated to get the agricultural commissionership for Ireland because we prioritise farming and agriculture as an essential part of rural Ireland-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 May 2019)
Simon Coveney: -----and of the Irish economy and we will not be found wanting in terms of supporting agriculture, particularly the beef sector, through this difficult period also.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 May 2019)
Simon Coveney: I do not believe we disagree that we need to significantly increase the output of housing of all types but the Deputy, like many others, misrepresents what the Government is doing in terms of its housing policy, and whether it is deliberate or not, I do not know. The idea that the Government has an ideological approach of relying on the market to solve the problem is simply not borne out by...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 May 2019)
Simon Coveney: No, we are doing it. It is happening.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 May 2019)
Simon Coveney: At the very end of the Deputy's contribution we got what this is about, which is about party politics rather than delivering.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 May 2019)
Simon Coveney: I did not interrupt the Deputy.
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 May 2019)
Simon Coveney: So we are now wasting public money trying to put people into stable accommodation-----
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 May 2019)
Simon Coveney: -----and trying to take them out of inappropriate but improved emergency accommodation. By the way, I am a big believer in approved housing bodies, as they know from when I was Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, and the current Minister is as well. That is why we are funding them to the tune of tens of million of euro each year. That is why we brought the European...
- Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (9 May 2019)
Simon Coveney: I have had direct conversations in that regard and it is not straightforward. It certainly is not being held up because of a lack of appetite from the Government. The issues raised by the Deputy are being addressed. We are not just talking about it; we are delivering thousands of homes now that were not being delivered a few years ago.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (9 May 2019)
Simon Coveney: The question was whether we will support the No Consent, No Sale Bill. I do not believe the Government can support that Bill.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (9 May 2019)
Simon Coveney: The Deputy has raised a lot of genuine issues. I reassure the House that, from a biodiversity and species perspective and from a climate change perspective, Members will see a lot of action from this Government. Before the end of this month, the Minister, Deputy Bruton, will bring a national climate action plan to Government for approval, and I am sure it will have many hours of debate in...
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (9 May 2019)
Simon Coveney: The Deputy is right. The Bill needs to proceed. It was actually listed for Report Stage last night but was not reached. It must now be relisted, hopefully for the next couple of weeks. No amendments have been put down on Report Stage, so there is no reason it cannot pass through the House very quickly, be finalised and become law.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (9 May 2019)
Simon Coveney: I will ask the Minister to come back to the Deputy on this.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (9 May 2019)
Simon Coveney: Policy and spending are matters for the Minister for Health, but I will certainly pass this matter to him and ask him to come back to the Deputy.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (9 May 2019)
Simon Coveney: There is an obligation on the Medical Council to prioritise patient care. If it is aware of anything that may compromise that it has an obligation to act. I am not familiar with the court judgment the Deputy refers to so I must be careful in what I say. If the Deputy wishes to send me more details I can come back to him.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (9 May 2019)
Simon Coveney: As the Deputy knows, the perspective of the Government and the Department of Finance is that community employment supervisors are not employees of the State, even though their salaries are funded by the State.
- Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (9 May 2019)
Simon Coveney: That means there is a different onus on the State in terms of pension entitlements. That is at the core of the issue.