Results 2,441-2,460 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Coveney: I have been advised by the Military Authorities that within the Defence Forces, each Army Brigade, the Defence Forces Training Centre, the Air Corps, and the Naval Service have their own Gender Advisers (GENADs). There is also a Defence Forces Gender Adviser based in Defence Forces Headquarters. The Defence Forces Gender Adviser is responsible for incorporating a gender perspective into the...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Coveney: The Defence Forces are fully committed to the equality and diversity policy objectives as detailed in the White Paper on Defence, which includes explicit commitment to the principles of equal opportunity in all employment policies, procedures and regulations and equal opportunities irrespective of gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation. The Defence Forces recognises the need to ensure that...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Ukraine War (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Coveney: A provisional date of 20 July has been set for the next meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group. As on previous occasions, I expect that Ireland will be represented at senior official level from the Department of Defence and at senior military level by the Defence Forces. The question of making any record of the contents of the meeting publicly available is a matter for the organisers.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Union Humanitarian Crisis Response to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Department of Foreign Affairs (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Coveney: I thank the committee for the opportunity to appear before it. I am glad to have it. I hope that we will have another meeting after the summer when this conflict will be in a new phase. Hopefully, it will be a better phase, but there is not a great deal of optimism that anything is going to change positively any time soon. I thank the committee for convening this session on the current...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Union Humanitarian Crisis Response to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Department of Foreign Affairs (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Deputy for those questions. The initial cost estimate for reconstruction currently stands at approximately €750 billion. We are talking about a very large country that has endured extraordinary levels of damage and destruction across multiple cities. Some cities hardly exist anymore in light of the level of bombardment and destruction. I witnessed some of that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Union Humanitarian Crisis Response to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Department of Foreign Affairs (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Coveney: I should have answered that question from Deputy Richmond. I am sorry. I will come back to it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Union Humanitarian Crisis Response to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Department of Foreign Affairs (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Coveney: On the question concerning how we fund this new plan for reconstruction, we are open to what the Deputy suggested. It is, however, much more complex legally than might be thought. We must be consistent with what is legally sound as well. If we are calling out countries for breaching international law, then we must practise what we preach. I am very much open to the approach suggested by...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Union Humanitarian Crisis Response to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Department of Foreign Affairs (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Coveney: We have frozen €1.7 billion of Russian funds in the context of those financial services so far linked to sanctions. It is not an insubstantial amount of money. We must, though, be responsible here in respect of any action we take being legally sound. Regarding the other question concerning the weaponising of food and energy, there is now, unfortunately, a communications battle...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Union Humanitarian Crisis Response to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Department of Foreign Affairs (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Coveney: That is no problem. I am in the Chairman's hands.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Union Humanitarian Crisis Response to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Department of Foreign Affairs (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Coveney: Maybe I will answer Senator Chambers's question first if she has to run back to the Seanad. She asked about the timeline for Ukraine membership. I hope it can be done within a decade. Given the scale of rebuilding and the challenges in terms of the benchmarks that need to be met to become a member of the European Union, that can be a very exciting ten years of investment, growth, reform...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Union Humanitarian Crisis Response to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Department of Foreign Affairs (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Coveney: Funding is available from the EU Commission to support member states with costs now. There is a new system in place. I have spoken to the Commissioner responsible for it. He was clear in terms of reassurance that funding would be available for countries like Ireland for accommodation costs and so on but also countries that are much more deeply impacted by numbers such as Romania, Hungary,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Union Humanitarian Crisis Response to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Department of Foreign Affairs (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Coveney: No, we are not. However, I do not believe we should see this as a pulling up the drawbridge issue, that we are okay so let us press ahead-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Union Humanitarian Crisis Response to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Department of Foreign Affairs (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Coveney: As it happens, we are not as exposed. Some countries would say it is well for Ireland because it can push for a seven-sanctions package that includes gas because Ireland is not reliant on gas for heating systems through the winter and does not have the type of climate those countries have. However, consider Poland, which is advocating for it. It is not sourcing Russian gas any longer and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Union Humanitarian Crisis Response to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Department of Foreign Affairs (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Deputy. I know she has to go but I will try to answer her questions. The first thing to say is there has already been a significant level of support for Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia from the EU in relation to reforms and institutional support. I think that will continue as they journey towards, in Georgia's case, candidate status in future and then on, we hope, to full...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Union Humanitarian Crisis Response to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Department of Foreign Affairs (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Coveney: I can keep talking if you want me to.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Union Humanitarian Crisis Response to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Department of Foreign Affairs (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Coveney: Taking Lebanon, for example, it imports the vast majority of its food. A huge proportion of that would normally have come from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. Likewise, in Egypt. I stand to be corrected here, but, from memory, the UN World Food Programme would have sourced close to 60% of its wheat, which is a big part of the food stocks that is supplies, from Ukraine and Belarus. It is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: European Union Humanitarian Crisis Response to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine: Department of Foreign Affairs (6 Jul 2022)

Simon Coveney: I take the point regarding some of the miscalculations from a military perspective at the start. I am sure they will be analysed by military experts at different stages. The expectation from many, including Russia clearly, was that Ukrainian cities would effectively fall one after the other - that there would be some initial resistance, but the scale of the Russian military would result in...

Defence Forces: Motions (5 Jul 2022)

Simon Coveney: I have clear views about how that debate should evolve and so on. I hope we will be able to have some of that debate, although resourcing our Defence Forces is a different debate to the debate on neutrality, how it is defined and what is wanted for the future. I am not proposing to this House that Ireland should move away from its position of non-military alignment. I will propose to...