Results 35,101-35,120 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)
Simon Coveney: The Tánaiste.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)
Simon Coveney: No.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)
Simon Coveney: I said the Tánaiste texted me to say he was going to meet Katherine Zappone when she was in Dublin.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)
Simon Coveney: He did not say anything about going to an event or where it was at or anything like that.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)
Simon Coveney: If he had, I would say it to the Deputy because it would not make any difference what the event was.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)
Simon Coveney: He did, yes.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)
Simon Coveney: He needed to know.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)
Simon Coveney: I do not know.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)
Simon Coveney: I have texts back and forth with the Tánaiste all the time. He was meeting Katherine Zappone and was looking for an update from me about whether there was anything he should know. I texted him back to say we had been working on a concept of a special envoy role and that was it.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)
Simon Coveney: Please do not read-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)
Simon Coveney: I am just giving the Deputy the facts as I have them.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)
Simon Coveney: The Tánaiste had no hand, act or part in the process of appointment of Katherine Zappone. That was my decision on the back of the work my Department had done on it. The Tánaiste had no hand, act or part in it. He was simply inquiring. He had no hand, act or part in it right into the Cabinet meeting because the Taoiseach did not even know about it. If the Tánaiste had been...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)
Simon Coveney: That was work we were doing. The Tánaiste had nothing to do with it.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)
Simon Coveney: I did not relay anything to Katherine Zappone because I did not speak to her when she was in Dublin.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)
Simon Coveney: I told the Tánaiste, not the Taoiseach, when he asked me if there was anything he should know, since he was meeting Katherine Zappone the next weekend. I said we were working on a special envoy role I thought she would be suitable for. I cannot remember the exact text of what I said.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)
Simon Coveney: I have no idea. Katherine Zappone herself would have known much more detail about this than the Tánaiste because she-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)
Simon Coveney: I am in the Chair's hands, so whatever he prefers. I am happy to answer any questions of the Opposition.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)
Simon Coveney: First of all, the comments of Deputy Stanton really sum up why we thought this role was useful and would add value to the work of the Department. It was my judgment that Katherine Zappone was someone who was very suitable for this role. That is the way special envoys are appointed. If there is a role the Department or the Minister thinks needs a new focus or added value, then you pick...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)
Simon Coveney: I would like to come back to the committee to try to get an agreed process that recognises the special envoy selection process. To clarify for Deputy Lawless, I believe 12 special envoys were deployed to advance Ireland's regional and bilateral engagement as we tried to get support in the build-up to the vote on the Security Council. Nine months in advance of that vote, the Government...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys and Update on Afghanistan: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (31 Aug 2021)
Simon Coveney: On Senator Ardagh's question, to be honest I do not have the exact date for when I got that text but I remember seeing it after the event because of the furore around it. I did not take any notice of it at the time I got it and I did not answer it. I did not go and I was not there. So, I just do not have that date, I am afraid. Deputy Gannon suggested that democratic values are under...