Results 5,901-5,920 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (6 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: All passport applications are subject to the provisions of the Passports Act 2008 ("the Act"). The Act broadly provides that before the Minister can issue a passport, a person must be an Irish citizen and in the case of children under the age of 18 years, the witnessed consent of their guardians must be provided. There is detailed information on the Department’s website in regard to...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights (6 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: As the civil war in Syria enters its eleventh year, humanitarian needs remain extremely high. Across Syria, 13.4 million people need humanitarian assistance including more than 3 million people in the North West of the country. Ireland fully supports the efforts of the UN, led by Special Envoy Pedersen, to bring the conflict in Syria to a sustainable conclusion. We have consistently...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights (6 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: I visited Saudi Arabia on 16 June, meeting Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, and Deputy Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir. In both meetings, I raised Ireland's concern over human rights, including the use of the death penalty. I also raised the importance of having a frank and constructive dialogue over human rights issues, and welcomed plans to convene an EU-Saudi Arabia...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Visa Applications (6 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: Working Holiday Authorisations (WHAs) play an important role in building Ireland’s bilateral relations with countries and regions with which we have reciprocal programmes. As Minister, I am fully supportive of the objectives of the Working Holiday programmes and I welcome their important contribution in promoting people-to-people contacts and providing opportunities for our young...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Data (6 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: The Department of Foreign Affairs comprises of two Votes; Vote 27 International Cooperation and Vote 28 Foreign Affairs. Below is a breakdown of the amount of interest the Department, across both Votes, has been charged for funds on deposit in Irish banks since negative interest rates were first applied. Year Totals 2017 4,235.42 ...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (6 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: As the civil war in Syria enters its eleventh year, humanitarian needs remain extremely high. Across Syria, 13.4 million people need humanitarian assistance including more than 3 million people in the North West of the country. In the north-west, the number of people in need increased by over 20 percent in 2021. On the Security Council, Ireland acts with Norway as...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights (6 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: Following the forced diversion and landing of a Ryanair aircraft to Minsk by the Belarusian authorities, the journalist Roman Protasevich and his companion Sofia Sapega were detained. Ireland strongly condemned this act, as did Dáil Eireann on 1 June when it unanimously passed the Government's motion on the situation in Belarus. We are deeply concerned for the welfare of Mr....

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (6 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: I am advised by the Passport Service that a search was completed for a passport application using the details supplied by the Deputy but no application was found. The Passport Service is happy to make direct contact with the applicant if the Deputy can supply contact details. The Passport Service will also be happy to provide information and guidance to the person in question through...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Military Aircraft (6 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: Under the Air Navigation (Foreign Military Aircraft) Order, 1952, the Minister for Foreign Affairs is responsible for regulating the activity of foreign military aircraft in Ireland. The strict conditions applied to requests for permission for a foreign military aircraft to land routinely include stipulations that the aircraft must be unarmed; must carry no arms, ammunition or...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Freedom of Information (6 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: My Department routinely publishes all non-personal freedom of information requests through a disclosure log on its website, in compliance with the Freedom of Information Act 2014. The current disclosure log shows requests from 2015 until the end of March 2021.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Freedom of Information (6 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: My Department has collected €1,635.00 in fees related to freedom of information requests since the Freedom of Information Act 2014 commenced. The annual totals are given in the following table. Year Search and Retrieval Fees Internal Review Fees Total 2014 nil €75.00 €75.00 2015 ...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Freedom of Information (6 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: Since the commencement of the Freedom of Information Act 2014, my Department has advised 15 requesters that their initial request was estimated to exceed the maximum threshold for search and retrieval fees and would likely be refused on that basis. 3 of those requests were withdrawn by the requesters. The other 12 of those requests were granted or part-granted records after engagement with...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (6 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: The Passport Service has been in direct contact with the person referred to in the Deputy's question. The Passport Service commenced the scaling up of operations on 4 May 2021 in line with the phased easing of restrictions set out in “COVID-19 Resilience and Recovery 2021 – The Plan Ahead”. The Service has been focused since then on four priority areas: - Clearing the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (6 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: As the processing of Canadian visas is solely a matter for the Government of Canada, I regret that I am not in a position to advise on this specific case. My advice to those seeking, or in the process of acquiring, a Canadian visa is to engage directly with the Canadian immigration authorities and with officials at Canada’s Visa Application Centre in Dublin. Ireland is deeply...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (6 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: The Defence Forces continues to safeguard the health and welfare of its personnel while maintaining its contribution to the security of the State, framework operations and responding to requests for Aid to the Civil Authority from Government Departments and Agencies, including to help control the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. The policy approach implemented in response to the...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Departmental Data (6 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: My Department operates a small number of bank accounts and, in accordance with public financial procedures, the amounts maintained in these accounts are kept to a minimum. The cost of negative interest rates incurred in respect of these accounts from 2017 to 2021 is outlined in the table below. Negative interest charges for my Department have fallen since 2019 following the move to a...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (6 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: A civilian consultant psychiatrist was appointed to the Defence Forces with effect from July 2020.

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (6 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: My Department employs civilian staff at various military installations to support the operational capability of the Defence Forces. There are currently three civilian craft workers employed in Finner Camp including one plumber. A recruitment campaign is currently under way to fill an electrician vacancy. The recruitment of Civilian Employees for military installations is an ongoing...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Air Corps (6 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: The military authorities have advised that there are 18 Officers currently undertaking their Pilot Wings Course and a further 9 Cadets are scheduled to commence their Pilot Wings Course following their graduation as Officers in Q1 of 2022.

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Freedom of Information (6 Jul 2021)

Simon Coveney: I am satisfied that my Department is in compliance with the publication scheme as set out in the Freedom on Information Act, 2014. Once all freedom of information requests for a particular quarter have been processed and issued, the Disclosure Log for that period is updated and published on the Department's website.