Results 21,761-21,780 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (30 Sep 2015)

Simon Coveney: Well-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (30 Sep 2015)

Simon Coveney: It may sound like the obvious thing to do, but there are issues.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (30 Sep 2015)

Simon Coveney: We will do everything we can to have as farmer-friendly a solution to this issue as possible.

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 thought it would be helpful for me to make a statement to set into context how we put our performance indicators in place in the Department of Defence. I am open to discussion, and if the committee members have suggestions, we will certainly look at trying to accommodate them. I welcome the opportunity to discuss the mid-term position on Vote 36, Defence, and Vote 35, Army Pensions. I...

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: It might be my iPad. Apologies.

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 fully support performance budgeting and the development of clear and transparent output reporting. I believe this will assist the Committee in better considering the high-level outputs and provide a solid basis for examining what has been achieved. I will set out the Department's key considerations in framing output targets, but first I would like to provide some context for the current...

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 am not quite sure what members have got from us in terms of outputs and so on. One of the frustrations we had is that the Revised Estimate that shows figures for the Department and then outputs is all on one page. If we consider what New Zealand does, it has an outputs document, which is almost like an annual White Paper in itself, in terms of outputs across defence, with a series of...

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 only way to measure military capability is by knowing what is being asked of the military. If we decide to maintain a presence in the Mediterranean for a while, there is a capability requirement to do so. Our Air Corps does not have significant defence capacity, but it is not in our mission statement to have it. Other countries will measure it very differently. The vast majority of...

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: We have set these targets by and large in the White Paper. We have outlined the capital expenditure priorities for the next ten years. These are a fleet replacement programme, replacement and upgrading of armoured vehicles and weapons systems, and new planes and surveillance and communication systems for the Air Corps. We have outlined where we think our capacity needs to improve and where...

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: In principle we have no problem with it, but we need to tailor it for Ireland.

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: It needs to be tailored to become relevant for an Irish model.

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: That is all I am saying. Most people accept that in terms of public service delivery and measurement and metrics New Zealand is seen as a best practice model which many countries look to follow. I do not suggest that we are going down the wrong route; I am just saying that if we apply a New Zealand approach and put the time and work into putting together reports to assess metrics, we need...

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: We will work with the secretariat to try to do this.

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 am conscious of the fact that I do not want to read to the committee things it already knows, but it is no harm to put some of this on the record with regard to expenditure. The combined Estimates for defence and Army pensions for 2015 provided for gross expenditure of approximately €898 million. Of that sum, €677 million was allocated to Vote 36, which is the Defence Vote....

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 suggest if the Chairman were to write as Chair of the defence committee to the retired Lieutenant General Conor O'Boyle, he would really appreciate that.

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: He has done an outstanding job and it would mean a great deal to him to get a letter from the 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: It is actually theLE Aisling.

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: They all are good questions. First, in respect of the fleet replacement programme, the White Paper states we want to have a minimum of eight ships in the fleet. We got a little bit caught out this year, if I am honest, as earlier in the year we had decommissioned theLE Aoifewithout having theLE James Joyceavailable and as a consequence were without one ship for a couple of months. We then...

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 be a bit quicker. On the MATS question, as the Deputy has asked this previously, there has been a decision by the Government that the service will operate with the single aeroplane available to it. It has some range issues and so on but the decision has been that it is what the service will operate with for the foreseeable future. Were a new Government to make a different decision,...

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.