Results 35,981-36,000 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Overseas Development Aid (18 Nov 2021)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Deputy. I am very glad to have an opportunity to clarify this because this question has not been asked for a while. I affirm the Government's commitment to meeting the target of 0.7% of GNI to be allocated to overseas development aid, ODA, by 2030. In budget 2022, €1.044 billion was allocated to ODA. This is the highest-ever amount allocated by any Government. I...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Overseas Development Aid (18 Nov 2021)

Simon Coveney: That is not an unreasonable ask. What we are doing is not tokenistic. An additional €174 million, which is a 20% increase in ODA in one year, is a pretty significant allocation. The nature of that allocation has changed somewhat. Other Departments are taking up a higher percentage, for example, than they would have in the past. The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Overseas Development Aid (18 Nov 2021)

Simon Coveney: I understand that request. I will tell the Deputy of my experience. After we made the commitment, I was the Minister who repeated it because it had notionally been a Government objective for many years. I recall when the then Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Liz O'Donnell, also made that commitment and fought at budget time to make sure there was progress towards it...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Foreign Conflicts (18 Nov 2021)

Simon Coveney: I am gravely concerned by the worsening situation in Tigray and other parts of Ethiopia, including the recent escalation in military operations and declarations of a state of emergency, which are magnifying the ongoing humanitarian crisis. These developments are deeply worrying for the people of Ethiopia and raise questions regarding the stability of the Horn of Africa region as a whole. ...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Foreign Conflicts (18 Nov 2021)

Simon Coveney: I have said that I support the US decision to impose target sanctions on individuals. I raised this issue at the Foreign Affairs Council meeting when we discussed Ethiopia on Monday. The EU does not have a collective position on that yet, but is examining its options. The EU has significant influence in Ethiopia. It spends an enormous amount there, with the Ethiopian Government, and is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Foreign Conflicts (18 Nov 2021)

Simon Coveney: As we have been very vocal on this issue, that has created some tension, although I had a long and constructive, if direct, meeting with Ethiopia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in New York in September. Ireland has made it its business on the Security Council to raise concern and to shine a spotlight on this issue. We are very concerned about the future of Ethiopia....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Foreign Policy (18 Nov 2021)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Deputy. I know he raised the issue before the elections took place and I do not think the results are surprising. Ireland and the EU stated on numerous occasions that the elections that took place in Nicaragua on 7 November were not going to be either free or fair, and that unfortunately has been the case. No credible opposition figures were allowed to run and no election...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Foreign Policy (18 Nov 2021)

Simon Coveney: The EU is considering how it should respond and how that response can be impactful on the regime without further impoverishing the people of Nicaragua. The EU is likely to come back to this. I understand Mr. Ortega's inauguration is due to be in January. I do not expect the EU will be invited to that, and if it were to be, I am not sure EU ambassadors would attend anyway. The European...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Foreign Policy (18 Nov 2021)

Simon Coveney: The fact the election observers were not allowed to observe the elections makes that more difficult. The evidence of credible candidates being detained and not allowed to participate in the elections is strong evidence in itself. I agree with the Deputy there is a tendency to paint this as something the USA is taking a stand on and the absence of other international actors expressing...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Foreign Policy (18 Nov 2021)

Simon Coveney: There has been a steep deterioration in the situation in Belarus since Alexander Lukashenko’s fraudulent re-election as president in August 2020. Tens of thousands of Belarusians protested in response, calling for fair elections, justice and a better future. This movement has been suppressed through state-sponsored violence, the use of arbitrary detention, and criminalisation of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Foreign Policy (18 Nov 2021)

Simon Coveney: Deputy Howlin raised this issue earlier. We have a dual responsibility to show solidarity with Poland, but also with Lithuania and Latvia which have been targeted. We also have an international and moral obligation to ensure that the welfare of migrants is protected, as it should be under international law. That is difficult to do when migrants are being effectively bussed in a tactical...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Foreign Policy (18 Nov 2021)

Simon Coveney: The tragic tactic here, in terms of the images of migrants on our borders not being able to get in, is to try to make the EU look bad. It is an incredibly cynical tactic. A number of migrants have died in these circumstances. This is an awful situation. From an EU perspective, we have to support EU member states in the challenges that have been effectively foisted on them by the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Middle East (18 Nov 2021)

Simon Coveney: I visited Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory in the first week of November. This was my fifth visit as Minister for Foreign Affairs. In respect of Ireland's role on the UN Security Council, I had useful exchanges on peace and security issues in the wider region, including the situation in Syria and Lebanon, and on regional security. I had detailed discussions with Israeli and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Middle East (18 Nov 2021)

Simon Coveney: Many people predicted the new Israeli Government would not last very long because it is a coalition of eight different parties, some of which have diametrically opposing positions on certain issues. However, it has managed to pass a budget, not only for one year but for two, and the expectation now is it may last for a period of time. That is welcome because we need stability in the area...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Middle East (18 Nov 2021)

Simon Coveney: The answer to the Deputy's second question is "No". I am not aware of any such moves even though I have spoken to quite a number of foreign ministers in regard to Ireland's rationale for passing that motion. For now, I do not see any momentum behind that particular approach. I certainly stand over the decision we made, collectively as a Parliament, that the strategic nature of the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Passport Services (18 Nov 2021)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 11, 14 and 17 together. Passport service operations have been severely disrupted by Covid-19, as were many Government services. Notwithstanding this, the passport service has issued more than half a million passports to date in 2021 and 45% of simple adult renewals issue within one business week. Current passport processing times are ten working days for...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Passport Services (18 Nov 2021)

Simon Coveney: We know, because of the number of people who contact me in this House from all parties, that many people have had difficulty in getting their passports in the timelines they need or want. Approximately 7% of passport applications that have been given a delivery date can go beyond such a date. We are working intensively to correct that to make sure that if a date is given on the system, the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Passport Services (18 Nov 2021)

Simon Coveney: I take the point. It is important to make a distinction between the facility that we have set up for Oireachtas Members, which is for emergency passports, and the general call centre in the Passport Office that can be contacted by the general public and by Members’ offices. This service did not exist at all until we set it up. Many people had been coming directly to me and my office...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Passport Services (18 Nov 2021)

Simon Coveney: If we turn that into the normal practice for following up passports, we will undermine the whole system. I am asking for some co-operation in that regard.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Brexit Issues (18 Nov 2021)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 12, 13, 35, 40, 57, 65 and 70 together. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle might give me a bit of latitude with time.