Results 34,581-34,600 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Departmental Legal Services (25 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: The expenditure incurred by my Department in respect of external legal fees in each of the years 2014, 2019 and 2020 is set out in the table below. Year Amount 2014 €10,302 2019 Nil 2020 €122,114.35 The Chief State Solicitor's Office is responsible for the costs of the State's legal...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Cybersecurity Policy (25 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: My Department implements a security-by-design and defence-in-depth approach to cybersecurity. My Department migrated its core IT infrastructure to the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) under the 'Build to Share Managed Desktop' shared service in 2020. The Government’s services are still actively involved in managing and remediating the recent cyberattack on...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: European Union (26 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: Ireland is participating in an EU procurement process with a view to accessing a portfolio of candidate vaccines against COVID-19 which are being negotiated with vaccine manufacturers by the European Commission acting on behalf of Member States. My colleague, the Minister for Health, has responsibility for securing the supply of vaccines for Ireland through the EU procurement process. ...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Birth Registration (26 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: My Department is responsible for citizenship by descent through the Foreign Births Register. At present, there are 30,000 applications in the Foreign Births Registration (FBR) system that are awaiting processing. It is anticipated that further resources will be allocated to this service to assist with this volume of applications when regular processing resumes. Entitlement to Irish...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Cybersecurity Policy (26 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: My Department continually reviews its ICT systems and implements upgrades in line with best practice and guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre. There are no Agencies under the remit of my Department.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Cybersecurity Policy (26 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: My Department recognises the ongoing risk of a cyber-security attack on its global ICT network. Investment in ICT has grown steadily over the last five years and amounted to 12.5 million euro in 2020. For reasons of operational and national security it is not appropriate to disclose details of my Department’s Cyber Security arrangements.

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (26 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: My Department has not met with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in relation to the matter referenced by the Deputy. It has been a long standing policy introduced in the 1990's to discontinue the provision of Married Quarters to serving personnel. It is not intended to reverse this long standing policy. The Deputy may wish to note that my Department transfered...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (26 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: Vote 36 Defence is delivered under a single programme entitled ‘Defence Policy and Support, Military Capabilities and Operational Outputs’, and dedicated funding by Corps is not identified separately in the budgetary process. In line with this approach, funding for the Communications and Information Services (CIS) Corps in respect of pay and allowances and other support and...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (26 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: The Communications and Information Services (CIS) Corps is responsible for the provision and maintenance of effective communications and information systems for Óglaigh na hÉireann. CIS Corps personnel are trained and educated for their respective roles through a variety of methods, including Óglaigh na hÉireann Trainee Technician Scheme (TTS), which is effectively a...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (26 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: It has not been possible to gather the required information in the turanround time for PQs. I will revert to the Deputy when I am in a position to reply.

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (26 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: The military authorities have advised that the allocated recruitment advertising budget for 2021 is €395,000. Advertising arsing from recuitment campaigns is placed across all major social media platforms and radio stations. As at 30th April 2021, a total of 149 personnel were inducted into the Permanent Defence Force.Further inductions will take place throughout the year as...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Cybersecurity Policy (26 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 151 and 152 together. For operational security reasons, my Department is not in a position to disclose any details of our data security systems as we deem it inappropriate to disclose information that may in any way assist those with malicious intent.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Diplomatic Representation (27 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: As the Deputy will be aware, trade and economic promotion is an important part of the work of the Department of Foreign Affairs’ overseas Mission network. The Mission network works to diversify our markets, to increase trade and investment with Ireland, to enable Irish companies to better take advantage of new opportunities, and to support Irish businesses in markets, by providing...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: United Nations (27 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: The Charter of the United Nations foresees that each Member State of the United Nations will contribute to the costs of running the organisation, generally referred to as UN budget contributions. Contributions are apportioned based on a scale of assessment designed to reflect the capacity of Member States to pay. At present, Ireland’s scale of assessment is 0.371% of the overall UN...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Covid-19 Pandemic (27 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 172 and 173 together. On 17 March 2021, the European Commission published its proposal for a Regulation to introduce a ‘Digital Green Certificate’ to facilitate free movement in the EU, described as a common framework for the issuance, verification and acceptance of certificates relating to vaccination, testing and recovery. Trilogue...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Diplomatic Representation (27 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: The repeal of the Presidential Order under section 212 F of the US Immigration and Nationality Act 1952 is solely a matter for US authorities. However, ease of travel is vital to our economic relationships and for building connections across the Atlantic. Ireland is deeply committed to people-to-people links with the US. We will work to ensure that the restrictions will not have any long-term...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Patent Applications (27 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: I am advised by the Passport Service that a search was completed for a passport application using the details supplied by the Deputy but no application was found as the application number is not valid. The Passport Service will be happy to provide information and guidance to the person in question. The Passport Service operates a Customer Service Hub which provides information via...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (27 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: All passport applications are subject to the terms of the Passports Act 2008, as amended (“the 2008 Act“). Section 7(1)(a) of the 2008 Act states that a person must be an Irish citizen in order for the Minister to issue a passport to that person. Accordingly, every applicant for a passport must submit a complete application form with supporting documents positively confirming,...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Middle East (27 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 177 and 179 together. UN Security Council Resolution 2334, adopted on 23 December 2016, calls on all States to distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967. The Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General on the Middle East Peace Process reports to the UN Security Council on the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Middle East (27 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: Ireland is wholly opposed to Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, which are contrary to international law, and is committed to upholding relevant UN Security Resolutions on settlements. It is critical however that action against settlements must be both lawful and well-considered, since actions which are not fully thought-through risk ultimately being unwound, thereby...