Results 35,261-35,280 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Simon Coveney: First, we are assessing this area now because of the controversy around it. Certainly, if a special envoy is to be appointed in this space, it will be done through an open competition whereby people's submissions will be invited publicly. The Taoiseach said that yesterday, and he is right.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Simon Coveney: I refer to my exchanges with Katherine Zappone. She texted me on 22 February, which is on the file, and she refers to USAID and the possibility of working with it on women's, girls', gender equality and LGBTQ issues. She went on to say that US President Biden had promised to appoint LGBT folks at high levels and so on. That was the first contact I had with her since I spoke to her briefly...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Simon Coveney: I did not respond to her on the Samantha Power issue at all. I did not think that was appropriate.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Simon Coveney: I told her I had no introduction to make for her to any UN organisation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Simon Coveney: She had texted me about it and she spoke to me about the work she was doing in the UNFPA and her interest in USAID. I said I did not have any contacts there and I would not be making any introduction for her on that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Simon Coveney: No. That is not true. That was a conversation previous to that on 24 February. I had not spoken to Katherine Zappone when I spoke to the then Secretary General, Niall Burgess. The text messages and their chronology show that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Simon Coveney: That was only the week before the Government appointment, when papers were sent for my approval from the Secretary General. I had specifically asked because I did not want to get involved in the job spec in relation to expenses, payment or anything like that. It was a matter for the Department, which is why I asked the Secretary General to deal with those issues with her, and he did. In the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Simon Coveney: As I said at the start, it would have been helpful, particularly now when we are looking at these texts with the benefit of hindsight, if, after her enthusiastic texts of 4 March when she was excited about the possibility of the role, I had gone back to her to say there was no done deal, we needed to go through a process and that I had been talking about a concept. It would have been helpful...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Simon Coveney: I do not know the conversations she had with the Minister, Deputy Donohoe. All I know is she spoke to him at the end of last year and asked for advice on career options. He mentioned that to me early in the new year so I was not surprised when I got a text from Katherine Zappone reaching out to me.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Senator. I have already referred, in response to a number of the Senator's colleagues, to the security issues I must be aware of in my job. I have to factor in that issue in terms of trying to be prudent with how I manage data on my phone. That is what has resulted in me clearing text exchanges that I regard as concluded and over. In terms of the responses to Katherine...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Simon Coveney: I am still cautious in terms of how data is managed and held on my phone. If I am not required under obligation to hold on to data or if it is not relevant, in other words if the conversations have concluded, then I generally clear those messages. I suspect many other people do the same.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Simon Coveney: Anything to do with Government business is the property of the Department. I certainly do not and will not clear messages that relate to Government business on my phone. I am talking about other interactions that I have. When issues are closed, I simply move on from them and I do not keep any unnecessary data. That is the position so I hope that is clear.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Simon Coveney: That is correct.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Simon Coveney: That is not the way I saw it but I can understand how the Senator might interpret it that way.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Simon Coveney: Yes, I am.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Simon Coveney: I certainly hope so because it has dragged on for far too long.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Chair. On Deputy Gannon’s question as to whether I thought that Katherine Zappone was a suitable candidate to work for the Government as a special envoy, I thought that she was. Katherine Zappone is not a person with whom I have a close personal relationship but is someone for whom I have a professional respect. I and my Secretary General thought that she could assist...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Simon Coveney: If one looks at the number of times we spoke about this particular position, very few conversations took place and these were, by and large, informal conversations. The records will show that it was the Secretary General who then asked for and instructed the Department to develop this concept further and we got a very positive response from other experts in the Department on that concept. ...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Appointment of Special Envoys: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (7 Sep 2021)

Simon Coveney: I handed my phone over to An Garda Síochána, who took it from there and worked with the Department on that. I will turn now to Deputy Cowen’s questions. I can understand why the public looking at this political fiasco as it has unfolded would interpret it, in the way some of the members have, as being lobbying and so on. All I can say is I got this initial contact and I...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Staff (9 Sep 2021)

Simon Coveney: My Department is fully committed to progressing the values of diversity and inclusion, promoting a fair and equal workplace for our people, and ensuring that our staff represents the society we serve. Reflecting this commitment, in 2020, my Department's Human Resources Division launched a staff survey on the 'Building Diversity Through Recruitment' staff and has engaged the Irish Centre for...