Results 19,181-19,200 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 35 - Army Pensions and Vote 36 - Defence (30 Sep 2015)

Simon Coveney: I do not have a reputation for being brief in this committee.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 35 - Army Pensions and Vote 36 - Defence (30 Sep 2015)

Simon Coveney: I will try to be a little more brief than usual. There are many good questions there, to be fair. On the Mediterranean mission, the LE Samuel Beckettis due to be back on 5 December. It is another rotation of approximately eight weeks. The plan now is that at that point we will not replace the vessel because the anticipation is there may not be much traffic at that time of the year because...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 35 - Army Pensions and Vote 36 - Defence (30 Sep 2015)

Simon Coveney: The Deputy raises the issue of Custume Barracks in Athlone with me on an almost weekly basis, and she is right to do so, as it is her town. We do have a lot of activity there in terms of a permanent Defence Forces presence. That will be maintained and probably enhanced in the future. Mullingar presents a more challenging situation because there is no longer an operational barracks there....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 35 - Army Pensions and Vote 36 - Defence (30 Sep 2015)

Simon Coveney: I will now turn to the important issue of PTSD. I understand the Deputy has contacted my office about one case, which we are concerned about, and we are acting upon this. There are strong social, personal and medical supports within the Defence Forces, but if there is a problem that is not being addressed appropriately within the Defence Forces, we will address it. It is not acceptable...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Memorandum of Understanding on Establishment of Battle Groups: Motion (30 Sep 2015)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Chair and I apologise to the committee for the reading of a third submission into the record today. The Department is undergoing a process of seeking approval for a memorandum of understanding regarding Ireland's proposed participation in the German battle group of 2016. I will now put some facts into the record for the reasons behind this proposal. The motion is:That Dáil...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Memorandum of Understanding on Establishment of Battle Groups: Motion (30 Sep 2015)

Simon Coveney: Essentially, what it means is that we do not want to be restricted to humanitarian assistance only. There are missions that may necessitate disarmament. Ireland has been involved very successfully in the UN mission to Liberia. Peacekeeping and peacemaking sometimes involves a range of things. The Lisbon treaty upgraded the kind of missions that battle groups can get involved in. At no...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Memorandum of Understanding on Establishment of Battle Groups: Motion (30 Sep 2015)

Simon Coveney: That is true.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Memorandum of Understanding on Establishment of Battle Groups: Motion (30 Sep 2015)

Simon Coveney: We may do so in the future but we are getting legal advice from the Office of the Attorney General. Ireland is not a member of NATO. We are not going to be a member of NATO any time soon. We have put arrangements in place that are the equivalent of signing the SOFA to ensure that our troops get the protection they need when they are abroad, training with other troops in other European...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agricultural Colleges Courses (1 Oct 2015)

Simon Coveney: Teagasc is the main provider of further education in agriculture, food, horticulture, forestry and equine studies. The Teagasc Green Cert course has been developed to meet the training requirements for full-time or part-time farmers. The course covers subjects such as the environment, farm safety and animal welfare as well as modules dealing with production agriculture, farm business...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Harbours and Piers (1 Oct 2015)

Simon Coveney: Howth Fishery Harbour Centre is one of the six designated Fishery Harbour Centres which are owned and managed by my Department under Statute. Responsibility for the management of the Fishery Harbour Centres’ property portfolio is solely under my Department’s remit and the Office of Public Works has no role in this regard. The property portfolio in Howth encompasses a range of...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Harbours and Piers (1 Oct 2015)

Simon Coveney: The six Fishery Harbour Centres, including Howth, contain a diverse property portfolio reflecting their role as working fishery harbours and as the location for a broad range of other marine activities. The majority of Fishery Harbour Centre properties are leased by my Department to a variety of public and private sector tenants which support this range of activities, which is vital...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Harbours and Piers (1 Oct 2015)

Simon Coveney: There are 70 properties in Howth Fishery Harbour Centre of which 13 are in rental arrears to the total amount of €603,395. The issues associated with the property portfolio are by and large legacy problems. On taking over responsibility for the management and operation of the Fishery Harbour Centres my Department established a dedicated Property Unit to manage the property...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Single Payment Scheme Payments (1 Oct 2015)

Simon Coveney: The EU Regulations governing the administration of these schemes require that full and comprehensive administrative checks , including in some cases on farm inspections be completed to confirm eligibility under the schemes. The 2014 Single Farm Payment/Disadvantaged Area’s Scheme application of the person named was selected for a ground eligibility inspection. This inspection...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Basic Payment Scheme Applications (1 Oct 2015)

Simon Coveney: The person named submitted a 2015 Basic Payment /Areas of Natural Constraint Scheme application on 29 May 2015. EU Regulations governing the administration of these schemes require that full and comprehensive administrative checks, including in some cases Remote Sensing (i.e. satellite) inspections, be completed before any payments issue. Advance payments under the Basic Payment Scheme will...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Agri-Environment Options Scheme Payments (1 Oct 2015)

Simon Coveney: My Department is currently examining approximately 400 cases that submitted invoices from one particular company to verify and support claims under the non-productive capital investment action of AEOS. It is known that in some cases the invoices submitted were for greater amounts than actually paid by the participants. Funding provided under the scheme comes partly from the EU and partly...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Basic Payment Scheme Applications (1 Oct 2015)

Simon Coveney: The person named submitted a 2015 Basic Payment /Areas of Natural Constraint Scheme application on 19 March 2015. EU Regulations governing the administration of these schemes require that full and comprehensive administrative checks, including in some cases Remote Sensing (i.e. satellite) inspections, be completed before any payments issue. Advance payments under the Basic Payment Scheme...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: TAMS Applications (1 Oct 2015)

Simon Coveney: There will be no issue here for the applicant concerned. He can apply on-line for the three bay unit and the existing planning in place for the four bay unit can also be submitted. The terms and conditions of the scheme allow for such circumstances. The applicant should also note that no grant-aid is payable for any works commenced in advance of approval from my Department.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Departmental Schemes (1 Oct 2015)

Simon Coveney: The person named submitted a 2015 Basic Payment /Areas of Natural Constraint Scheme application on 16 May 2015. EU Regulations governing the administration of these schemes require that full and comprehensive administrative checks, including in some cases Remote Sensing (i.e. satellite) inspections, be completed before any payments issue. Advance payments under the Basic Payment Scheme will...

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Grant Payments (1 Oct 2015)

Simon Coveney: The person named submitted an application for both the Basic Payment and the Areas of Natural Constraint Schemes on 29 April 2015. The person named applied on a Commonage with fourteen other herd owners. This commonage is currently over-claimed. The matter is being investigated by my Department with a view to resolution and issuing payments to all valid claimants as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine: GLAS Data (1 Oct 2015)

Simon Coveney: Under European Commission regulations all applications must be administratively checked before any application can be approved into the scheme. Almost 27,000 GLAS applications were submitted and final checks will be carried out in October and farmers will then be notified in writing of the outcome of their application. Until this process is complete it is not possible to determine precisely...