Results 6,321-6,340 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Data (25 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: My Department implements a strict daily back up policy in line with best practice and guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre. There are no Agencies under the remit of my Department.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Registration of Births (25 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: My Department is responsible for citizenship by descent through the Foreign Births Register. At present, there are 30,000 applications in the Foreign Births Registration (FBR) system that are awaiting processing. It is anticipated that further resources will be allocated to this service to assist with this volume of applications when regular processing resumes. Entitlement to Irish...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Legal Services (25 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: My Department generally seeks advice on domestic legal matters from the Office of the Attorney General and/or the Chief State Solicitor’s Office. Depending on the subject matter, litigation is dealt with on my Department’s behalf by the Attorney General’s Office, the Chief State Solicitor’s Office or the State Claims Agency which engage lawyers to act for the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (25 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: The Passport Service scaled up to more normal 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...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: United Nations (25 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: I will focus my response on Ireland’s engagement since the Deputy previously requested an update in March 2021. Since 10 May, the Security Council has met four times on the situation in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. At the Security Council Open Debate on the situation on 16 May, I made it clear that the Council and its Members have a responsibility to speak out,...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Cybersecurity Policy (25 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: There are no agencies under the remit of my Department. The approach to cyber security is multi-dimensional and in line with the advice of the National Cyber Security Centre. The expenditure on cyber security is integrated in overall ICT costs. Details of these for the last 10 years are as follows: 2011€13,994,067 2012€13,632,644 2013€13,543,983 2014€15,719,431...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (25 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: In so far as this question relates to my policy brief or my functions, any person having any knowledge of possible criminal activity should report it to an Garda Síochána who are the proper authority to investigate such matters. Allegations relating to sexual offences are taken very seriously by both the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces. The Defence Forces have...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (25 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: The Report of the Public Service Pay Commission (PSPC) on Recruitment and Retention in the Defence Forces was published on 4 July 2019. The Report was accepted in full by the Government at that time and, to facilitate implementation, an extensive High Level Plan titled "Strengthening our Defence Forces – Phase One” was also agreed and published on the same date. The High...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (25 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 322 and 323 together. 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 as assigned by Government as set out in the White Paper on Defence. Equipment priorities for the...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Military Aircraft (25 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: In accordance with the legislative requirements of the Air Navigation (Foreign Military Aircraft) Order 1952, all foreign military aircraft wishing to overfly or land in the State require the permission of the Minister for Foreign Affairs. A request is received by the Department of Foreign Affairs from the relevant embassy of the visiting/overflying foreign aircraft. This request is then...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (25 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: The National Memorial to members of the Defence Forces who died in the service of the State was unveiled at a ceremony in November 2008. The ceremony was led by the then President, Mrs. Mary McAleese, who laid a wreath at the memorial. The memorial which is situated in a prominent position close to Dáil Éireann and to Government Buildings was designed by Mr. Brian King. It is...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (25 May 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 as 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...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Maritime Jurisdiction (25 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: With regard to Ireland's EEZ, it is not unusual for naval ships or vessels of other States to carry out training exercises within this area or to passage through this area. This would normally involve prior notification to Irish Authorities where an exercise was taking place close to our Territorial Waters but this is not a requirement. In the case of the USS Paul Ignatius the US...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Military Aircraft (25 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: In accordance with the legislative requirements of the Air Navigation (Foreign Military Aircraft) Order 1952, all foreign military aircraft wishing to overfly or land in the State require the permission of the Minister for Foreign Affairs. A request is received by the Department of Foreign Affairs from the relevant embassy of the visiting/overflying foreign aircraft. This request is then...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Departmental Data (25 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: For operational security reasons, my Department is not in a position to provide any details of its data security systems or those of the bodies under its aegis, as it would be inappropriate to disclose information that may in any way assist those with malicious intent.

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Departmental Legal Services (25 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: The expenditure incurred by my Department in respect of external legal fees in each of the years 2014, 2019 and 2020 is set out in the table below. Year Amount 2014 €10,302 2019 Nil 2020 €122,114.35 The Chief State Solicitor's Office is responsible for the costs of the State's legal...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Cybersecurity Policy (25 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: My Department implements a security-by-design and defence-in-depth approach to cybersecurity. My Department migrated its core IT infrastructure to the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) under the 'Build to Share Managed Desktop' shared service in 2020. The Government’s services are still actively involved in managing and remediating the recent cyberattack on...

Situation in Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel: Statements (20 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: I am sharing time with Deputy Carroll MacNeill. We are here this afternoon to address the current cycle of violence between Israelis and Palestinians. It is the latest in a long, brutal and inhumane conflict that has taken an unspeakable human toll. This week, I have spoken about the situation in the Seanad, at the UN Security Council and in a meeting of EU foreign ministers. I repeat here...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights (20 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 251 and 258 together. My Department has been monitoring the case of this individual since October of last year. His case has been raised by Ireland at senior level both bilaterally and jointly with EU partners. Our Ambassador in India has raised the issue at senior level in the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and Ireland also joined with EU partners...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (20 May 2021)

Simon Coveney: All passport applications are processed by the Passport Service in Ireland. The total number of passports currently issued is approximately 5,055,000. The total number of passport cards currently issued is approximately 256,000. The Passport Service does not hold data based on the country of residence of applicants. As such, it is not possible to provide data on how many persons currently...