Results 5,761-5,780 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: My Department has supported the UNESCO programme, Our Rights, Our Lives, Our Future (O3), since 2017. supporting the empowerment, health and resilience of adolescents and young people across Sub-Saharan Africa. Ireland has provided €1,850,000 in funding to-date, to support programming in four African countries; Ethiopia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. €500,000 further funding to...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Covid-19 Pandemic (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: I can advise the Deputy that my Department continues to work closely with the Department of An Taoiseach, the Department of Health and the HSE, the Department of Justice, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, Government Information Services, and the Department of Transport in relation to the EU Digital COVID Certificate. As the Deputy will appreciate, specific questions...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Asylum Seekers (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: I can assure the Deputy that I am committed to continuing to work with our EU partners, including Greece, to resolve these specific issues and to ensure that humanitarian and legal obligations are fully met. Border control measures across Europe must be without prejudice to the rights of refugees and other people requesting international protection. While Member States have the sovereign...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Covid-19 Pandemic (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: As the Deputy will be aware, my Department continues to work closely with the Department of An Taoiseach, the Department of Health and the HSE, the Department of Justice, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, Government Information Services, and the Department of Transport in relation to the EU Digital COVID Certificate. As the Deputy will appreciate, specific questions...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: I can advise the Deputy that my Department continues to work closely with the Department of An Taoiseach, the Department of Health and the HSE, the Department of Justice, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, Government Information Services, and the Department of Transport in relation to the EU Digital COVID Certificate. As the Deputy will appreciate, specific questions...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Citizenship Applications (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 825 and 840 together. My Department is responsible for citizenship by descent through the Foreign Births Register. Prior to COVID-19 it took twelve to eighteen months to process applications. This was due to the complex nature of FBR applications and the very high volume of applications due to Brexit. The applications referenced were received and are...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: I am very concerned about this recent change to Hungary’s laws and its potential to harm the rights and freedoms of the LGBTQI+ community in Hungary, particularly young people. Statements by myself and the Minister of State for European Affairs, Thomas Byrne T.D., following the Hungarian Assembly’s passage of this legislation, made clear Ireland’s concerns about this...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Covid-19 Pandemic (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: I wish to express my sympathy to the people of India at the suffering that they are enduring from the devastating consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly since the second wave at the end of April. The impact of Covid-19 on India was one of the key agenda items for an EU Leader’s meeting with Prime Minister Modi held on 8 May in Porto, which the Taoiseach attended in...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: I am deeply concerned by the recent civil unrest that has taken place in South Africa, which has led to the deaths of at least 330 individuals and caused significant disruption to essential services and to the South African economy. The extent of the damage caused is still emerging, but estimates indicate that the unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces has left 150,000 jobs at...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Bodies (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: There are no agencies or State organisations under my Department.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: Passports are internationally recognised travel documents that attest to the identity and nationality of the bearer. The inclusion of titles such as Mr., Mrs., Dr., Rev., and Sir are not facilitated by the Passport Service as these are not required on a Passport to attest to a bearers identify or nationality.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Birth Registration (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 843 to 845, inclusive, together. My Department is responsible for citizenship by descent through the Foreign Births Register. Prior to COVID-19 it took twelve to eighteen months to process applications. This was due to the complex nature of FBR applications and the very high volume of applications due to Brexit. At present, there are just over 30,000...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: My Department takes the quality and standard of our interactions with the public and their elected representatives very seriously. Whether it is through the provision of consular or passport services to Irish citizens, at home and abroad, or answering queries from members of the public or their elected representatives, my Department has produced several policies underpinning its desire to...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Northern Ireland (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: The position of the Government on the legacy of the past in Northern Ireland is clear and consistent. The Stormont House Agreement is the way forward on these issues. It was agreed in 2014 by both Governments and the political parties after intensive negotiations, and it represents a balanced and comprehensive framework to address the painful legacy of the Troubles, based on the principles of...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: United Nations (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: Ireland has been vocal in strongly condemning the unjust detention of political prisoners in Belarus. We are committed to keeping the situation in the country high on the international agenda and that is what I told Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya during her recent visit. The number of those detained simply for holding or expressing views that the Lukashenko regime do not like continues to rise and...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Funding (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: My Department has a rigorous system of planning, monitoring, evaluation and auditing to ensure the efficient and effective use of resources and deliver value for money. All funds and programmes are closely monitored at headquarters and mission level using a Standard Approach for Grant Management to ensure they deliver on the intended results and meet their objectives. The independent...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: Since taking up our seat on the UN Security Council on 1 January, Ireland has been active across the broad range of geographic and thematic issues on the Council agenda, including on Colombia, in line with the three core principles underpinning Ireland’s term: Building Peace; Strengthening Conflict Prevention; and Ensuring Accountability. Ireland has long been a supporter of...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: My Department, including the Embassy of Ireland in Bogotá, closely monitors the human rights situation in Colombia and has been active, in co-ordination with our EU partners, in responding to human rights concerns that have emerged in Colombia in the context of the recent national strike. I would like to express again my serious concern at the reported violence by the police in...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Covid-19 Pandemic (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: I share the concern about the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable communities, including those in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). Ireland’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic is informed by our commitment to reach the furthest behind first, as set out in our international development policy ‘A Better World’. At the global level, Ireland is playing its part to...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: United Nations (27 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: Ireland’s position on the US embargo on Cuba is long-standing and clear. Fundamentally, Ireland believes that the embargo serves no constructive purpose and that its lifting would facilitate an opening of Cuba’s economy to the benefit of its people. Ireland, along with our EU partners, has been a consistent supporter of the annual Resolution put forward by Cuba at the UN General...