Results 2,241-2,260 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Simon Coveney: It is great to see so many members interested in this report. I hope we will have time to go through the high-level action plan later on because I know members will have detailed questions on how we are taking things forward. I very much welcome this opportunity to engage with the members of the joint committee on matters relating to the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces, and I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Simon Coveney: There is a whole load of issues there and it is up to the Chairman as to how much detail he wants me to go into, particularly on where we are at on the early actions, because they lead into the answers to many of the other questions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Simon Coveney: That is helpful. On the 38 early actions, some members will have a copy of Building for the Future - Change from Within, which is the high-level action plan for the report. On pages 16 and 17 are the 38 recommendations for early actions, which in some cases put foundations in place to do more and in others are definitive actions from which people will notice change. We have moved, for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Simon Coveney: I hope that is helpful. It probably covered nearly all of the questions that I was asked. I apologise, I have not covered the organisational capability review, OCR. This issue has been raised repeatedly and I am pretty sure I have answered this question a number of times. Why did the Commission on the Defence Forces not look at the Department as well? The Department got a pretty robust...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Simon Coveney: It is up already. I was not sure whether it was.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Simon Coveney: We can all do that, but what we are doing here will span across multiple Governments and whoever is in government in three, four, five or ten years' time will be part of implementing these issues. I have done what I can to try to make this as factual as possible and to keep politics out of it. I go to the naval base pretty regularly. I live very close to it. Every time I go for a run,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Simon Coveney: Yes. That also relates to participation in courses. It is about trying to drive a priority of getting more women into the Defence Forces and also getting them higher up the scale in the Defence Forces, into positions of influence and so on. We are going to have a head of transformation who in all likelihood will be a woman and that person will also be a civilian. The head of HR will also...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Simon Coveney: We can absolutely come back with that. There is no issue there.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Simon Coveney: They are January 2022 prices, so they are actually closer to 2021 prices.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Simon Coveney: We have only just gotten one across the line but I will try to answer that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Simon Coveney: I will try to answer every question if I can. I will answer Deputy Berry's eight questions first. I certainly hope we will have time to debate this in the Dáil. As Minister for Defence, the more we can debate defence issues, the better. We have to ensure that there is a realistic understanding of why defence matters, why we need to resource it properly, why the work of the commission...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Simon Coveney: All I will say to the committee is that we are working on this. I spoke to the Minister for Health about it as recently as last week and he also understands the urgency of the situation. It is not just the Defence Forces, by the way; other people are waiting for this and it needs to be paid soon. To be fair, the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, is very much on the same page in wanting to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Simon Coveney: They were very good questions. I thank all members for the way in which this is being approached. There has not been any party politics thrown across the floor today, which is helpful, because this is-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces: Discussion (4 Oct 2022)

Simon Coveney: Can the Chairman give me ten seconds to respond to Senator Ó Donnghaile? It was noted by the commission that when its representatives visited both Finner Camp and Dundalk, there were a particularly high number of people in the Defence Forces from north of the Border. It is a fair point that we should ensure that our recruitment campaigns are all-island. So far, that has not been the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Policy (29 Sep 2022)

Simon Coveney: The situation in Lebanon is deeply worrying. The economic situation had been deteriorating for some time before the pandemic, the devastating explosions in Beirut on 4 August 2020 and the onset of war in Ukraine.  I have visited Lebanon on several occasions as Minister, most recently in May of this year, and have witnessed first-hand the scale of the challenges facing the country. ...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights (29 Sep 2022)

Simon Coveney: I am deeply saddened by the news of the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody in Iran after her arrest for allegedly violating dress code regulations. On 21 September I met with the Foreign Minister of Iran, Hossein Amirabdollahian at the UN General Assembly High Level Week in New York. I relayed to him my deep concerns regarding the circumstances of Ms...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Middle East (29 Sep 2022)

Simon Coveney: I refer the Deputy to my previous answer to PQ 46070/22 on 21 September.  Further to my reply on 21 September, agreement has now been reached on an EU position, which sends a clear and robust message on the important issues and priorities which Ireland has prioritised. The EU-Israel Association Council will take place on 3 October in Brussels. 

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (29 Sep 2022)

Simon Coveney: I was deeply concerned by the reports of renewed fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan earlier this month. While Ireland has not provided direct aid to internally-displaced civilians in Armenia, in 2022 Ireland did provide an unearmarked (fully flexible) contribution of €10.5 million to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for use in global programmes. The...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (29 Sep 2022)

Simon Coveney: With regard to the specific applications about which the Deputy has enquired, the Passport Service has issued passports to the applicants. 

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Commemorative Medals (29 Sep 2022)

Simon Coveney: In general, military medals are awarded in recognition of specific acts or service at home or overseas, which can vary in significance from routine duty, to distinguished service and gallantry. There is a specific process in place concerning the award of medals to members of the Defence Forces, as set out in Defence Force Regulation (DFR) A9 and the associated Administration...