Results 8,881-8,900 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: -----but it is welcome that we are seeing increasing numbers of An Garda Síochána. Where they are assigned has to be determined by where the policing need is most-----

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: -----and it is the Garda Commissioner who determines that.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: I will re-emphasise the point that farmers and the group that they pay into, the IFFPG, have done what seems to be an efficient job. One does not see much in the way of farm plastics being disposed of inappropriately any more. The collection hubs and the collections from farm yards, which I understand are organised and paid for by the levy, work well. I also understand that what has...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: As we have said week after week, there is not a recruitment freeze. There is recruitment going on, but it has to be within budgets that have been planned for.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: There is no Department that allows the sectors that it is responsible for to recruit staff without a budget to do so. That is what the HSE did in the past, but not any more. This does not mean that the HSE is not recruiting. It is. We need to provide more money, and we are. That is why there are significantly more doctors and nurses in the system now than 12 months ago. We will continue...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: My understanding is that the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, is reviewing the legislation in this area to ensure that it is watertight and that incitement to hatred, hate speech and spreading falsehoods, inaccuracies and lies that promulgate fear for political reasons can be responded to appropriately. The challenge we face in terms of social media platforms providing a...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: And candidates. That is correct. When candidates say things that are wrong, they need to get pulled up on it.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: If they are decent people, they will apologise and try to correct the inaccuracies. If they are not, then the public will have to make a choice.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: This is a debate that the House and all parties in it need to have in a non-party political way to support new initiatives that the Government may introduce in the coming months.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: We are moving in the direction of making sure that the health services Estimate is accurate and that we do not have a substantial Supplementary Estimate at the end of each year for healthcare provision. This is where we are moving to. The Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, has made huge progress on that this year. It is, however, difficult because every time I answer questions in this...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: -----and we need to respond to that and do-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: -----and therefore have to introduce Supplementary Estimates. We must try to shrink that number by being more accurate in predictions 12 months out, while at the same time recognising that healthcare will need more and more money every year. This year the HSE has allocated €1.9 billion to the disability service programme. In context, this is an increase of almost €350 million...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: This is quite a technical issue and I will ensure the Deputy gets a good response in writing also. I will address some of the issues now, as flagged by Deputy Lowry. The legislative framework for the import and export of waste in the European Union is set down in very clear regulations in the European Parliament and the Council. Under the waste management and shipment of waste...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: As usual, Sinn Féin is good at vocalising the pressures that result from a crisis but it does not have any solutions.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: It is not.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: If we introduced a rent freeze tomorrow, it would not get a single child out of a family hub or hotel.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: We live in a democracy and there is good reason the majority in this House do not support a rent freeze. We believe it would fundamentally undermine the core issue we are trying to resolve, which is the lack of supply. We have introduced a rent cap, which we believe to be a much more appropriate course of action.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: The rent cap was supported by a very large majority in this House when it was introduced. The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government subsequently introduced a range of new protections for renters. The core issue is that until we increase the supply of housing stock in all sectors, including affordable rental and cost rental, as we are doing, we are not going to see reductions...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: This is an important issue. Voluntary organisations that provide services on behalf of the HSE do so on a contract basis under either section 38 or section 39 of the Health Act 2004, as the Deputy outlined. Such organisations provide a broad range of services across the health system, including large acute care hospitals, specialist hospitals, disability services, hospice care, mental...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Nov 2019)

Simon Coveney: First, I will respond to the general comment that Rebuilding Ireland is not working because the facts do not bear that out. There is still a lot of work to do but more than 50,000 new homes have been built over the past three years. There was an increase of 82% in the number of new homes completed between 2016 and 2018. Some 10,000 new homes will be added to the council housing stock this...