Results 6,261-6,280 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Third Level Education (1 Jun 2021)

Simon Coveney: On 6 May last, Minister of State for European Affairs Thomas Byrne launched “A Career for EU”, Ireland’s new sSrategy to increase our representation among the staff of the EU’s Institutions and Agencies.  Ireland is facing a “demographic cliff” in its representation among the staff of the EU’s Institutions, as many senior Irish...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Data Protection (1 Jun 2021)

Simon Coveney: My Department necessarily collects, processes, and stores significant volumes of personal data from our customers, staff, and service providers. In particular, the effective delivery of passport and consular services for Irish citizens at home and abroad is a central component of the Department's work and necessitates the processing of personal data. My Department endeavours to safeguard...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Consular Services (1 Jun 2021)

Simon Coveney: I can confirm to the Deputy that my Department has been providing consular advice, support and assistance to the family, through our Consular Assistance Unit in Dublin and our Embassy in Bangkok, since first notified of the case in December 2020. Embassy officials have liaised extensively with relevant local authorities, including health and police authorities, with a view to ensuring...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: EU Meetings (1 Jun 2021)

Simon Coveney: EU-Singapore ties were not on the agenda at the most recent Foreign Affairs Council meeting. I welcome the deepening of EU relations bilaterally with Singapore and through the strengthening of relations with ASEAN regionally. In December last, 2020, I participated in the 23rd ASEAN-EU Foreign Ministers Meeting where the EU-ASEAN relationship was upgraded to the level of strategic...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Policy (1 Jun 2021)

Simon Coveney: The Department of Foreign Affairs currently administers nine Working Holiday Authorisations (WHAs), with Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, and the United States. There are no plans to introduce a WHA programme with South Africa or UAE at this time.  The processing of Working Holiday applications by our Missions abroad has been...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Protected Disclosures (1 Jun 2021)

Simon Coveney: The Department of Foreign Affairs has not received any protected disclosures to date in 2021 nor in any of the past five years.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Covid-19 Pandemic (1 Jun 2021)

Simon Coveney: The EU Digital COVID Certificate is designed to facilitate the safe free movement of citizens within the EU during the COVID-19 pandemic. It will be valid in all EU Member States, including Ireland, and will be provided by the Member State within which the vaccination or Covid-19 test took place. Individual Member States will determine how the EU Digital COVID Certificate will be used as...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (1 Jun 2021)

Simon Coveney: The Passport Service scaled up operational levels on 4 May 2021, in line with the phased easing of restrictions set out in “COVID-19 Resilience and Recovery 2021 – The Plan Ahead”. Passport Online will continue to be the priority channel given the efficiencies that are in-built into the system for both the applicant and the Passport Service. The processing of an...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Data Protection (1 Jun 2021)

Simon Coveney: The majority of data breach incidents that have occurred in my Department since 2018 have related to mis-addressed correspondence by email and post.  In most instances, data breaches have involved no risk or a low risk to the data subject.  In cases where there was a low risk to the rights and freedoms of a data subject, the Data Protection Commission was notified.  A singular...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: EU Programmes (1 Jun 2021)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 368 and 369 together. There is currently a PESCO Military Mobility project on military mobility across the EU and Ireland has observer status on this project.  The purpose of this observer status is simply to idenitify and review any implicsations which may potentially arise for Ireland from this project.  The Military Mobility project is seen...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (1 Jun 2021)

Simon Coveney: A complete breakdown of the 28 WRC complaints received by my Department, by origin per service in the Permanent Defence Force (PDF) is as follows: Type of Complaint Army  Naval Service Air Corps Other Won - not upheld* 1 3 2 Lost - upheld 1 ...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (1 Jun 2021)

Simon Coveney: Vacant positions in the Military Police Corps (MP Corps)  are filled by serving members of the Permanent Defence Force and so no external recruitment campaigns are envisaged. Serving personnel, on successful completion of the required courses, are inducted into the MP Corps.  Such courses are ongoing and, in addition to the current...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Protected Disclosures (1 Jun 2021)

Simon Coveney: The following table sets out the number of protected disclosures received from 2016 to date. Year Number of disclosures 2016 2 2017 11 2018 4 2019 4 2020 12 2021 (as of 27th May) 9 This figure relates to all Protected Disclosures...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Cybersecurity Policy (1 Jun 2021)

Simon Coveney: I want to assure you that my Department and the Defence Forces implement a programme of continuous review in relation to ICT security in order to keep up to date with current threat levels. The Defence Forces are constantly researching new and emerging technologies in order to enhance the security of the Defence Forces' network infrastructure.  Significant and substantial...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (1 Jun 2021)

Simon Coveney: I am informed by the Military Authorities that, as of 27 May 2021, 3,055 Defence Forces personnel have received their first dose of a vaccine and a further 1,223 personnel have received their second dose. The COVID-19 vaccine Allocation Strategy was developed by the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) and the Department of Health, endorsed by the National Public Health...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Air Corps (1 Jun 2021)

Simon Coveney: My priority as Minister for Defence is to ensure that the operational capability of the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service is maintained to the greatest extent possible. This is primarily to enable the Defence Forces to carry out their roles assigned by Government as set out in the White Paper on Defence. Equipment priorities for the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service are being considered in...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (1 Jun 2021)

Simon Coveney: Personal data on behalf of both serving and retired personnel is held compliant with GDPR. This data can be stored in paper or digitised form. The Deputy Chief of Staff (Support) is the Data Controller for Óglaigh na hÉireann and is responsible for the processing of personal data in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018. Óglaigh na hÉireann engages with the...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (1 Jun 2021)

Simon Coveney: Defence Forces food requirements, both at home and overseas and encompassing rations, pack rations, provisions and front of house catering services, are provided for from within Subhead A.14.3.  (Defence Forces: Catering and Provisions) of the Defence Vote. The amounts spent on Defence Forces food requirements in 2019 and 2020 are set out in the table below. ...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (1 Jun 2021)

Simon Coveney: Vote 36 Defence is managed through a single programme with all operational outputs delivered from a single set of forces encompassing the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service. Dedicated current and capital expenditure costs for the Army Ranger Wing and Naval Service divers are not identified separately, but are included in the overall programme costs across the appropriate subheads of the Vote....

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (1 Jun 2021)

Simon Coveney: The acquisition of new equipment and the upgrading of equipment for the Defence Forces remains a clear focus for the Defence Organisation. Future equipment priorities for the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service are considered in the context of the White Paper on Defence as part of the capability development and equipment priorities planning process. In this context the principal aim over the...