Results 34,521-34,540 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (18 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: The overall establishment strength of the Defence Forces School of Music (DFSM) is 123 personnel. The table below details the vacancies, by rank, in the DFSM that existed on 31st March 2021. Rank Lt Col Comdt Captain Lt CS CQ Sgt Cpl Pte* Vacancies 0 0 1 0 ...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Naval Service (18 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: My priority as Minister for Defence is to ensure that the operational capability of the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service is maintained to the greatest extent possible. This is primarily to enable the Defence Forces to carry out their roles as assigned by Government, as set out in the White Paper on Defence. Equipment priorities for the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service are being considered...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (18 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: The ‘Defence Forces 5 year Infrastructure Programme 2020 – 2025’,provides for the implementation of the policy approach outlined in the White Paper on Defence and will enhance Defence Forces physical infrastructure and accommodation as an important component of defence capability. This Programme reflects the complex environment in which the Defence Forces...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Data Protection (18 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: My Department takes its data protection responsibilities very seriously and makes every effort to ensure that personal data is safeguarded at all times.  Technical and organisational measures, as required under GDPR, are implemented to ensure the security of personal data being processed.  Data security and data privacy are central topics of all data protection awareness campaigns...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Common Foreign and Security Policy (18 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) is a process under which groups of Member States can come together to develop capabilities in support of Common CSDP Operations. On a voluntary basis, 25 EU Member States have joined PESCO and subscribed to more binding commitments to invest, plan, develop and operate defence capabilities together within this EU framework. Ireland's participation...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (18 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) was established on 1st October 2015. Since that date twenty-eight (28) complaints have been made against the Defence Forces, with the Minister for Defence listed as the Respondant in all such cases. Complaints made may originate from either Defence Forces personnel or civilians ("Others" in the table below).  The...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Social Media (18 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: My Department takes every opportunity possible in its day-to-day interactions with customers to promote and publicise the services it provides through Irish. These include the Department’s website where all static content is bilingual. The Department’s corporate documents are available in both English and Irish as follows:- - Annual Report - Strategy Statement - Customer...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Departmental Funding (18 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: An annual grant payment is made each year from the Defence Vote (Vote 36) to the Irish Red Cross Society towards the administrative running costs of its headquarters. In 2021, the grant due to be paid to the Irish Red Cross Society is €975,000. In December 2018, a Government decision provided for an allocation of €85,000 from the Defence Vote to Sail Training...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Departmental Funding (18 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: An annual grant payment is made each year from the Defence Vote (Vote36) to the Irish Red Cross Society (IRCS) towards the administrative running costs of its headquarters. Following a Government decision in 2015,  additional once-off funding was provided to the IRCS through the  Defence Vote for an Emergency Humanitarian Support Scheme for...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Departmental Funding (18 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: An annual grant payment is made each year from the Defence Vote (Vote 36) to the Irish Red Cross Society (IRCS) towards the administrative running costs of its headquarters. Following a Government decision in 2015,  additional once-off funding was also provided to the IRCS through the  Defence Vote for  the Emergency Humanitarian Support Scheme for...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Birth Registration (19 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: The processing of Foreign Births Registration (FBR) applications has been temporarily paused as a result of COVID-19 related restrictions. Prior to this pause, it took twelve to eighteen months to process applications. This was due to the complex nature of FBR applications, the very high volume of applications due to Brexit and exacerbated by the impact of COVID-19 restrictions. The Passport...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Military Aircraft (19 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: My Department has responsibility for the provision of diplomatic clearance to foreign military and State aircraft to land and overfly the State. This is subject to strict conditions. I can confirm that permission was granted in this case subject to the conditions that routinely apply to landings at Irish airports by foreign military aircraft: namely that the aircraft is unarmed,...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Dublin-Monaghan Bombings (19 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: This week saw the 47th anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, in which thirty-three persons were killed and hundreds seriously injured, attacks which saw the largest loss of life on a single day in the Troubles. My thoughts are with the victims, survivors and the families of all those who were lost that day, as they remember their loved ones. The Government will continue to...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Departmental Properties (19 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: As previously confirmed to the Deputy, the City Council's request for access to lands has been facilitated. As part of this arrangement, the Defence Forces will continue to require access to lands for the deployment of trucks which enables water based training activities to take place. As these activities related to ongoing training and operational matters, the Deputy will appreciate that it...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Departmental Staff (19 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: My Department has been unable to clarify or confirm the details supplied by the Deputy. Officials from my Department will liaise with the body that appears to have issued the correspondence supplied with a view to progressing the matter.

Situation in Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel: Statements (20 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: I am sharing time with Deputy Carroll MacNeill. We are here this afternoon to address the current cycle of violence between Israelis and Palestinians. It is the latest in a long, brutal and inhumane conflict that has taken an unspeakable human toll. This week, I have spoken about the situation in the Seanad, at the UN Security Council and in a meeting of EU foreign ministers. I repeat here...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights (20 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 251 and 258 together. My Department has been monitoring the case of this individual since October of last year. His case has been raised by Ireland at senior level both bilaterally and jointly with EU partners. Our Ambassador in India has raised the issue at senior level in the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and Ireland also joined with EU partners...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (20 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: All passport applications are processed by the Passport Service in Ireland. The total number of passports currently issued is approximately 5,055,000. The total number of passport cards currently issued is approximately 256,000. The Passport Service does not hold data based on the country of residence of applicants. As such, it is not possible to provide data on how many persons currently...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (20 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: The Passport Service scaled up to more normal operational levels on 4 May 2021, in line with the phased easing of restrictions set out in “COVID-19 Resilience and Recovery 2021 – The Plan Ahead”. Passport Online will continue to be the priority channel given the efficiencies that are in-built into the system for both the applicant and the Passport Service. The...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (20 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: The Passport Service scaled up to more normal operational levels on 4 May 2021, in line with the phased easing of restrictions set out in “COVID-19 Resilience and Recovery 2021 – The Plan Ahead”. Passport Online will continue to be the priority channel given the efficiencies that are in-built into the system for both the applicant and the Passport Service. The...