Results 31,981-32,000 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (27 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: Ireland, like all EU Member States and the EU itself, adheres to the One China policy and does not recognise Taiwan as a State. As such, for Irish citizens born in Taiwan, it is not possible to populate the country of birth information field on their Irish passport with wording other than that of “Taiwan, Province of China (TWN)”. This is the official designation used by the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Diplomatic Representation (27 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: Ireland will seek to maintain a strong and enduring relationship with our nearest neighbour, the United Kingdom, following its departure from the European Union.  This relationship, and our future engagement, will be underpinned by the Common Travel Area, and the Institutions and principles of the Good Friday Agreement.  As part of “Global Ireland - Ireland’s...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Birth Registration (27 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: Further to my reponse to Parliamentry Question No. 101 of 5 November 2019, I am advised that a member of the Foreign Births Registration Team has been in contact with the applicant directly and these applications have now been approved.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: "No" is the straight answer to the Deputy's last question. Like everybody else in government, I appreciate the pressures the health service is under and the pressures that are sometimes imposed on parents and families. There are a lot of good things happening in healthcare but there are also real pressure points. Deputy O'Connell, as a mother and a Government Deputy, was expressing a...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: The Deputy's fake outrage is a bit much.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: I take questions in this House every Thursday and almost every week, understandably, healthcare issues are raised.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: Deputies opposite stand up each week and try to spin the message that the Government does not care about or know what is going on, which is nonsense.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: A Deputy who is also a mother was understandably frustrated. The Government understands-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: We are investing €17 billion in the healthcare system next year, which is significantly more than was ever before allocated. We are prioritising how that is spent, depending on the pressures that emerge from week to week and month to month. We have committed additional funding of €26 million to the winter initiative, the purpose of which is to ensure that throughput in...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: First, I will respond to the general comment that Rebuilding Ireland is not working because the facts do not bear that out. There is still a lot of work to do but more than 50,000 new homes have been built over the past three years. There was an increase of 82% in the number of new homes completed between 2016 and 2018. Some 10,000 new homes will be added to the council housing stock this...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: It is not spin, it is fact.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: As usual, Sinn Féin is good at vocalising the pressures that result from a crisis but it does not have any solutions.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: It is not.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: If we introduced a rent freeze tomorrow, it would not get a single child out of a family hub or hotel.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: We live in a democracy and there is good reason the majority in this House do not support a rent freeze. We believe it would fundamentally undermine the core issue we are trying to resolve, which is the lack of supply. We have introduced a rent cap, which we believe to be a much more appropriate course of action.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: The rent cap was supported by a very large majority in this House when it was introduced. The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government subsequently introduced a range of new protections for renters. The core issue is that until we increase the supply of housing stock in all sectors, including affordable rental and cost rental, as we are doing, we are not going to see reductions...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: This is an important issue. Voluntary organisations that provide services on behalf of the HSE do so on a contract basis under either section 38 or section 39 of the Health Act 2004, as the Deputy outlined. Such organisations provide a broad range of services across the health system, including large acute care hospitals, specialist hospitals, disability services, hospice care, mental...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: We are moving in the direction of making sure that the health services Estimate is accurate and that we do not have a substantial Supplementary Estimate at the end of each year for healthcare provision. This is where we are moving to. The Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, has made huge progress on that this year. It is, however, difficult because every time I answer questions in this...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: -----and we need to respond to that and do-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: -----and therefore have to introduce Supplementary Estimates. We must try to shrink that number by being more accurate in predictions 12 months out, while at the same time recognising that healthcare will need more and more money every year. This year the HSE has allocated €1.9 billion to the disability service programme. In context, this is an increase of almost €350 million...