Results 9,341-9,360 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Oct 2019)

Simon Coveney: The Deputy knows only too well that I am not going to approve sewage schemes for individual villages in Kerry during Leaders' Questions.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Oct 2019)

Simon Coveney: If the Deputy would listen----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Oct 2019)

Simon Coveney: The Deputy is entitled to raise it and I have not said otherwise. I am stating that I am not in a position to sanction expenditure on individual programmes. That is not how politics works.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Oct 2019)

Simon Coveney: How politics works now is that we now have Irish Water. It is planning to spend €1.9 billion on wastewater projects in the next five years. About €10 billion has been spent over the last two decades on water infrastructure generally and we need to continue to spend heavily so that villages, such as those mentioned, can grow and expand if that is appropriate from a planning and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Oct 2019)

Simon Coveney: I know some of the towns and villages mentioned by the Deputy well, in particular Caherdaniel. It is one of the most beautiful parts of this island. Irish Water has to prioritise how and where it spends funds. Sometimes that means investing in upgrading existing facilities and at other times it will mean the construction of a brand new treatment plant. It has to prioritise those areas...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Oct 2019)

Simon Coveney: We will keep the House informed on the Brexit issues. Next week will be really important, not just because we will be dealing with the budget, which is, understandably, being put together on the basis of a pessimistic outlook due to the fact that we need to be cautious but also because I hope to see progress in terms of the British proposal developing into something that is fit for purpose....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Oct 2019)

Simon Coveney: There is always a time lag between planning permission being granted and a developer getting the finance together to be able to start building houses. Let us start talking about the real world.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Oct 2019)

Simon Coveney: One cannot instantly deliver houses, one must obtain planning permission first. We have a new and better system to do that and we need to deal with the other issues too, which are part of the Rebuilding Ireland strategy.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Oct 2019)

Simon Coveney: I am not quite sure what the question is there.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Oct 2019)

Simon Coveney: We have taken the level of delivery of new homes from approximately 12,000 to well over 20,000 this year. That happened in the space of three years. We need to get to a figure of more than 30,000 per year, given the current and predicted population growth in this country. To do that, we need to build a lot of social houses, which we are doing. We will add more than 10,000 to the social...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Oct 2019)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Deputy. The first judgment call that the Irish Government and the EU collectively have to make is on whether the Boris Johnson Government wants a deal and what the evidence, language, conversations and phone calls between Dublin and London suggest. My judgment is that Boris Johnson does want a deal and that the paper published yesterday was an effort to move us in the direction...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Oct 2019)

Simon Coveney: We certainly acknowledge the problems. That is what this is all about. We have spent three years trying to address the problems, and the complexity of those problems, in the context of the UK as a whole leaving the EU and all that flows from that. We continue to hold out for the solutions that can respond to the practical problems that people living on the Border and the island generally...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Oct 2019)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to respond to what is the issue of the day, despite storms, rugby matches and so on. These are very serious issues. The British Prime Minister has put forward what we regard as a serious proposal. We are taking it seriously and so is the EU. That is why the response will be a cautious one until we have had an opportunity to study the detail...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Oct 2019)

Simon Coveney: I believe the Deputy and I are at one on this. I thank the other parties in the House for their co-operation on these issues. We share a concern because all parties in the House understand the complexity of this challenge but also the fragility and vulnerability of Northern Ireland and relationships North and South in the context of what we are trying to do here. Jonathan Powell, a former...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Communications (3 Oct 2019)

Simon Coveney: My Department regularly updates its travel advice for over 200 countries. We endeavour to provide up-to-date information to help citizens make informed decisions when they are planning a trip overseas and to offer an objective assessment of the risks they could face. Our Embassy in Madrid posted a message on Twitter on 13 September, advising that a number of roads in the Murcia and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (3 Oct 2019)

Simon Coveney: I welcome the many ambassadors attending the meeting. It is good to have such interest in our committee discussions and deliberations. I am conscious that on the previous occasion I came before the committee we were very tight on time and I am glad to be back; I hope to be able to address any questions members might have. I thank the committee for the invitation to come before it this...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (3 Oct 2019)

Simon Coveney: I am conscious there are other members here as well but the Deputy has asked many good questions. I know he has to leave shortly to return to the House, so I will try to give him some answers. On the proposals that have come from the British Government in the past 24 hours, the Deputy asked if I believed this is a serious effort to get a deal. I believe it is a serious effort. If he is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (3 Oct 2019)

Simon Coveney: There is agreement on ensuring that we can get medical supplies, food and supports into Yemen. The EU has spent a significant amount of money supporting aid efforts to try to do that. It is inexcusable knowingly to allow children, or anyone for that matter, to starve and to cut off supply routes for humanitarian assistance. However, this is complicated. It pertains to access to some ports...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (3 Oct 2019)

Simon Coveney: It was very encouraging that ODI ranked Ireland number one for our development assistance programme in terms of getting money to the least well-off or the people furthest behind, to use the sustainable development goal, SDG, term. We can do more, but it is good to see that the programme is working. I must correct the Deputy on multinationals. We are not opposing a legally binding treaty....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Foreign Affairs Council: Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (3 Oct 2019)

Simon Coveney: My apologies. Since 2012, Ireland has provided over €140 million in humanitarian assistance to those affected by the conflict in Syria and the region, which is our largest ever response to any single crisis. In March 2019, Ireland pledged €25 million to Syria and the region for this year. To date, we have disbursed over €21 million of this amount. This includes...