Results 2,521-2,540 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Reports on Service by the Defence Forces with the UN and Permanent Structured Cooperation Projects: Motions (30 Jun 2022)

Simon Coveney: The point I am making is that we have been training troops for all of the right reasons. The people who are responsible for the coup are at a different level entirely and the Deputy should not be making the connection between the two, given the accusation that comes from that. In regard to the continuing presence, we are likely to see some changes to that EU training mission but, for now,...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Reports on Service by the Defence Forces with the UN and Permanent Structured Cooperation Projects: Motions (30 Jun 2022)

Simon Coveney: Yes, but that is a challenge that is way outside of Ireland's control.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Reports on Service by the Defence Forces with the UN and Permanent Structured Cooperation Projects: Motions (30 Jun 2022)

Simon Coveney: Regarding the triple lock, we can control what we want to control when it comes to Irish troops, where they go, how long they stay there and what mandate they operate under. Controlling that is our job as the Government, the Oireachtas and so on. I am not happy that Ireland has to rely on the approval of some of the P5 member states for mandates for future peacekeeping missions, given the...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Reports on Service by the Defence Forces with the UN and Permanent Structured Cooperation Projects: Motions (30 Jun 2022)

Simon Coveney: No. What I am saying is that there are other mechanisms that we could use to reassure Irish people that we are sending troops on missions that are consistent with the objectives of the UN, those being, peace support and peacekeeping. Perhaps we can have that debate in the autumn; we are not going to have it now. I am just signalling that there are issues that we have to be mature enough to...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Reports on Service by the Defence Forces with the UN and Permanent Structured Cooperation Projects: Motions (30 Jun 2022)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Deputy for her questions. The changing nature of peacekeeping is almost self-evident. I will give a good example. The previous time we were on the Security Council was in 2001 when 9-11 tragically happened. There has also been a great deal of tragedy this time, be it Afghanistan, Covid, Ukraine or many other conflicts. I understand that, in 2001, the Security Council was...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Reports on Service by the Defence Forces with the UN and Permanent Structured Cooperation Projects: Motions (30 Jun 2022)

Simon Coveney: There is a role for the Defence Forces in the National Cyber Security Centre in terms of secondments, etc. but it is primarily the responsibility of the Minister for-----

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Reports on Service by the Defence Forces with the UN and Permanent Structured Cooperation Projects: Motions (30 Jun 2022)

Simon Coveney: Yes, the Minister for Transport or rather, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications. It is the same person. Let us wait and see how that evolves. Certainly, the Government is conscious of the need to continue to build capacity in terms of cybersecurity generally. Within the Defence Forces, we have to make sure that our own systems are as bulletproof as they can be from...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Reports on Service by the Defence Forces with the UN and Permanent Structured Cooperation Projects: Motions (30 Jun 2022)

Simon Coveney: -----which is recommended. It will be much closer to the Chief of Staff and his team. The head of the Reserve will be plugged right into the Chief of Staff's office in the defence headquarters.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Reports on Service by the Defence Forces with the UN and Permanent Structured Cooperation Projects: Motions (30 Jun 2022)

Simon Coveney: We are looking at a much stronger structure.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Reports on Service by the Defence Forces with the UN and Permanent Structured Cooperation Projects: Motions (30 Jun 2022)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Deputy. I agree with him. I am not sure global democracy is in retreat but it certainly needs to push back to protect its existence. There are certainly parts of the world where it is under attack. That goes for human rights standards, respect for international law and a range of other things. Our commitment to multilateralism is absolute when it comes to foreign policy....

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Reports on Service by the Defence Forces with the UN and Permanent Structured Cooperation Projects: Motions (30 Jun 2022)

Simon Coveney: A report of this significance does not just get signed off on overnight. I need to find agreement with multiple other Departments, particularly the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, the Department of Finance and the Department of the Taoiseach, in order to get final agreement on the report. I think we are almost there. There has been an awful lot of work on this. We are not...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Reports on Service by the Defence Forces with the UN and Permanent Structured Cooperation Projects: Motions (30 Jun 2022)

Simon Coveney: I am sure my officials will kill me for saying this, but I would happily bring forward an options paper on how we might address some of the concerns that have been outlined by the committee. I would happily do that in the early autumn when we return after the summer recess. There are ways in which we can provide a lock system of sorts but at the same time not hand a veto to a government or...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Reports on Service by the Defence Forces with the UN and Permanent Structured Cooperation Projects: Motions (30 Jun 2022)

Simon Coveney: It is absolutely possible to separate the two, if people choose to do it. The triple lock is a technical mechanism. One of the locks is no longer appropriate and we can replace it with something else that does a similar job. We do not have to turn this into a political issue around neutrality unless people choose to do so. It is as simple as that.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Reports on Service by the Defence Forces with the UN and Permanent Structured Cooperation Projects: Motions (30 Jun 2022)

Simon Coveney: We have not had it in the past but that has not been a problem that has come to light in the past, in practice. It is now likely to, or certainly one could seriously envisage an issue in that regard.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Reports on Service by the Defence Forces with the UN and Permanent Structured Cooperation Projects: Motions (30 Jun 2022)

Simon Coveney: We have seen the problem of the use of the veto in recent times. I do not want our ability to send troops on an appropriate peacekeeping mission to be vetoed by somebody who has no interest in Ireland's motivation. If it would be okay, perhaps we will come back and have a detailed discussion on this matter.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Reports on Service by the Defence Forces with the UN and Permanent Structured Cooperation Projects: Motions (30 Jun 2022)

Simon Coveney: I think it is absolutely possible. Our neutrality has never been determined by UN mandate. Our neutrality is based on military non-alignment.

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Reports on Service by the Defence Forces with the UN and Permanent Structured Cooperation Projects: Motions (30 Jun 2022)

Simon Coveney: Following a request from the Ukrainian Prime Minister to the Taoiseach for the provision of specialist training to the Ukrainian armed forces, the Defence Forces have been in contact with the Ukrainian armed forces to clarify their precise training needs and to assess the possibility of providing such training. That request related specifically to the area of demining. Having been to...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Reports on Service by the Defence Forces with the UN and Permanent Structured Cooperation Projects: Motions (30 Jun 2022)

Simon Coveney: That undoubtedly has to be part of the conversation. It depends on what work they are doing. Sometimes it is easier said than done to take three months or six months out or whatever the period may be. However, I take the point about 90 days. We had a detailed discussion on this last week or the week before with members of the Reserve Defence Force in terms of the training period that...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) Projects: Motion (30 Jun 2022)

Simon Coveney: The following motion was placed on the Order Paper for Dáil Éireann and was referred to this committee: That, in accordance with the Programme for Government commitments, Dáil Éireann approves Ireland's participation in four Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) Projects: i) Cyber Threats and Incident Response Information Sharing Platform, ii) Deployable Military...

Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) Projects: Motion (30 Jun 2022)

Simon Coveney: All of them are.