Results 2,541-2,560 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

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

Simon Coveney: That is a very different issue from PESCO. Their training is different.

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

Simon Coveney: With respect-----

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

Simon Coveney: It is really regrettable that the Deputy has chosen to try to make this discussion party political and that he has been deliberately trying to misinform people. These are serious issues. We have war on our Continent at the moment and we are talking about capability issues and common training exercises where Ireland voluntarily chooses to train with other countries to try and build capacity...

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

Simon Coveney: No, the Deputy should please listen.

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

Simon Coveney: I ask Deputy Brady to listen because people need to know the truth here, rather than turning this into some debate around the creation of a European army, which is what the Deputy's party seems to do every time there is a debate on this issue. There is absolutely no move towards a European army or Irish support for one or any political party in Ireland looking to support one. Could the...

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

Simon Coveney: I am glad that Deputy Berry has been as positive about these projects as he has because I have a great deal of respect for his own experience within the Defence Forces and indeed within the Army Ranger Wing, which is part of this package. We need to see partnership as a positive thing when it comes to defence not as a risk to our independence, our sovereignty or our neutrality. There are,...

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

Simon Coveney: If I may make the point, please, Mr. Borrell is talking about a 5,000 strong force to respond, should they be needed, to make an intervention. Even in those kinds of interventions, Ireland has never been forced to respond to them. We will decide and that is our position, if we will be involved or if we will not. If we have not trained with other countries, however, or are not interoperable...

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

Simon Coveney: We are talking about the Defence Forces here. They are military.

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

Simon Coveney: They are not humanitarians; they are military personnel.

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

Simon Coveney: These are very fair questions. I will clarify what we are talking about here in terms of cybersecurity. It is cybersecurity threats to Defence Forces infrastructure. This is therefore not the National Cyber Security Centre that we are talking about. PESCO is about co-operation on projects that are of a military capacity. This is about ensuring that our Defence Forces are upskilled to the...

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

Simon Coveney: That is separate, although it is complementary to the National Cyber Security Centre, which deals with everyday cyberthreats to our health system, to the private sector, to data breaches, etc.-----

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

Simon Coveney: Regardless of what we do on the report, the case is being made. We have already been observers on these projects, in some cases for a number of years. The recommendation has come back to me. These things take a while. I got these recommendations ages ago. Now it is going through the process of political accountability. However, the recommendations have come to me to say we would now...

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

Simon Coveney: I do not think so, because-----

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

Simon Coveney: Sorry-----

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

Simon Coveney: Can I say-----

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

Simon Coveney: Well, can I answer that? We have Defence Forces personnel in the field right now-----

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

Simon Coveney: Yes.

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

Simon Coveney: Sorry, our Defence Forces are operating every day, commission or no commission. We need to make sure they are trained to the standards that we expect of them and that they also demand in terms of international best practice. That is what this is about. We may well be coming back in a number of months’ time to look to join more. We will have this discussion and I will have to...

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

Simon Coveney: No, let me answer the other questions, if I can.

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

Simon Coveney: Can I come in?