Results 31,801-31,820 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Brexit Issues (12 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: The Deputy has made a number of statements as if they are absolute facts. The truth is that there are still many unknowns with regard to how the future relationship negotiations will go. I share the Deputy's concern that the timelines are tight. Given the recent history of negotiating trade deals with other parts of the world, it generally takes years, not months, to negotiate trade deals....

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Brexit Issues (12 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: I do not disagree with the Deputy about the concern about attempting to get a future relationship on a whole range of things, not just a trade deal, including fishing, data, aviation-----

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Brexit Issues (12 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: -----defence and security co-operation. I accept that it is very ambitious to expect that that can be done in 11 months. We should not, however, be making statements that we will be relying on two more years being applied for. First, we have to get into a transition period. We are already preparing, as a Government, for the negotiations that will take place to make sure that the Irish...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: International Agreements (12 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: The question of a legally binding treaty to regulate the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises has been under consideration by an open-ended inter-governmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises, which was established on foot of a resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council in 2014. The working group has had five...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: International Agreements (12 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: I would like to think we are already. No one is stepping back. As I said at the end of my response to the Deputy's previous question, of the 22 countries that have national plans on business and human rights, 16 of them are in the EU. The EU is trying to give leadership in this area. We have made the case that the EU should do more, although I would not say that was the only contributing...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: International Agreements (12 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: Ireland is trying to give leadership by example so that is why we have, at national level, a national action plan with a committee chaired by Breege O'Donoghue, formerly of Primark. That committee has met three times this year, in January, April and October, and the next meeting will take place in January. The key action of the implementation committee will be to develop a practical toolkit...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: International Agreements (12 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: I will get that detail and send it to the Deputy.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Armenian Genocide (12 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: The Government expressed its deepest sympathy for the enormous suffering of the Armenian people during the terrible events of 1915, which resulted in the appalling deaths of large numbers of the Armenian population in the Ottoman empire. No Government has taken a position on the recognition of the events of 1915 as genocide, believing that it is not in a position to adjudicate on this...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Armenian Genocide (12 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: Some of what the Deputy says is true but there is no international consensus on whether the events of 1915 can be considered a genocide. There has been no ruling in regard to this matter by an international court and neither the EU - that is, the European Council and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy - nor the UN has recognised these events as genocide. The...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Armenian Genocide (12 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: The courts, not historians.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Armenian Genocide (12 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: I am not disputing the awfulness of what happened, the number of people who were killed or the suffering involved. What I am saying is that whether it is legally categorised as a genocide is in dispute. That is the only dispute here. In fact, in 2015 the issue was debated at a meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, when Senator Mark Daly put forward the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Female Genital Mutilation (12 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Deputy for raising this question. Female genital mutilation is a fundamental violation of the human rights of women and girls. It is nearly always carried out on girls under the age of 18. Approximately 3.6 million girls are at risk of being subjected to FGM each year. According to the World Health Organization, there are 200 million girls and women in 30 countries affected by...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Female Genital Mutilation (12 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: FGM is universally recognised as a form of gender-based violence and a fundamental violation of human rights and girls here in Ireland. The practice of FGM is estimated to affect more than 3,780 women and girls in Ireland between the ages of 15 and 45. The Criminal Justice (Female Genital Mutilation) Act 2012 provides for the creation of an offence of FGM and other offences relating to FGM....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Female Genital Mutilation (12 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: If nearly 4,000 women and girls in Ireland are impacted by this, the figure for the European Union in total is obviously many multiples of that. We would certainly like to see a consistency of approach in the law and prosecutions in this area. Perhaps I could come back to the Deputy with country-by-country details of the state of legislation in this area. Perhaps we could do some more work...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Overseas Development Aid (12 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: The Government is fully committed to delivering on the 0.7% ODA:GNI target by 2030. Achieving this commitment would mean a tripling of current allocations and sustained, substantial increases beyond the lifetime of the current Dáil. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will engage in careful planning and consultation with other Departments and stakeholders as we seek to grow...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Overseas Development Aid (12 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: I had time left.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Overseas Development Aid (12 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: I was finishing in the time I had left.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Overseas Development Aid (12 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: An agreed, cross-party approach is required to make this happen. We need to add somewhere between €100 million and €150 million a year, on average, between now and 2030 to the ODA budget. Some 65% or 70% of that funding will come through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the rest through other Departments. We are committed to doing that. This year was an...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Overseas Development Aid (12 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: We have such a roadmap. That is why we launched the new development strategy earlier this year. It outlines four key priorities: gender equality, reducing humanitarian need, climate action and strengthening governance around the world. Ireland's aid programme is ranked No. 1 for reaching the most marginalised people on the planet so we have a good foundation to build on. We must build...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Presidential Elections (12 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: As the Deputy will be aware, the elections that took place in Bolivia on 20 October 2019 were followed by reports of violence and excessive force by the authorities and the situation there remains very fluid and uncertain, as the Deputy referenced. Ireland supports the EU statement released on 24 October on the electoral process, which underlined the expectation that the Bolivian Government...