Results 10,761-10,780 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (14 Feb 2019)

Simon Coveney: That is a Private Members' Bill and there is nothing to stop Fianna Fáil bringing it forward in its Private Members' time.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (14 Feb 2019)

Simon Coveney: The Government has made it clear, as the EU has, that the withdrawal agreement that was agreed by the British Government, along with all other EU governments, will not be reopened but, of course, we want to try to be helpful in clarifying the issues around the potential use of a backstop, which, after all, is an insurance mechanism that none of us wants to use. If it is to be used, we all...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (14 Feb 2019)

Simon Coveney: What has happened is that we have a new Minister in this Department who is preparing to bring recommendations to Government. There are three-----

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (14 Feb 2019)

Simon Coveney: The Deputy did not hear a year ago that there is a new Minister in the Department. This will be a significant spend by the State when it happens and we need to make sure that we are getting value for money and that the controls are in place to ensure that we protect the interests of the State in terms of expenditure. We need to make sure it works. The former Minister, Deputy Naughten, did...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (14 Feb 2019)

Simon Coveney: On the industrial dispute between some SIPTU workers and Pfizer, I am glad to say the WRC has invited both parties back in for discussions. There is a Labour Court recommendation that was put together on this issue, which the company and management accepted and the workers decided not to accept, which is their right. I hope that talks can take place in the WRC and get a positive outcome....

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (14 Feb 2019)

Simon Coveney: I do not have an exact date for the Bill.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (14 Feb 2019)

Simon Coveney: All I will say is that the Deputy's attempts to make headlines today seem to have backfired.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (14 Feb 2019)

Simon Coveney: There are clear guidelines in regard to salaries. The Deputy knows that.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (14 Feb 2019)

Simon Coveney: I accept that the Deputy asked detailed questions earlier. I do not have a date today, which is what she asked for, in respect of a specific question but I will talk to the Minister about that. I will convey to the Taoiseach the contribution she made as well.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Feb 2019)

Simon Coveney: The Deputy has asked quite a lot of detailed questions. I will try to respond to them. First, Mr. Paul Quinn is the Government chief procurement officer and head of the Office of Government Procurement. Mr. Quinn was appointed in a personal capacity to the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board for a five-year term in 2013 by the then Minister for Health, the now Senator James...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Feb 2019)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Deputy. The point here is that he was on the board. He had a code of practice by which he was governed on that board. He was also accountable to the sponsoring Department, which was the Department of Health. There was a line of communication between the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board and the Department of Health. He had an obligation to play his role in that...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Feb 2019)

Simon Coveney: There was not a separate line to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Feb 2019)

Simon Coveney: -----which would not have been appropriate given the role of the Department of Health as the parent Department for this project.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Feb 2019)

Simon Coveney: I note the Deputy's very constructive engagement on this issue in the House and the obvious experience he has in the construction industry which makes for a very helpful contribution. A process is under way now to fully evaluate what happened. Mistakes were made. There was a gross underestimate of the-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Feb 2019)

Simon Coveney: -----cost of building the hospital. When the estimate was corrected, there was a dramatic change in the overall predicted and estimated cost of delivering the hospital. When we got clarity on the figure, the Minister brought a series of recommendations to the Government to make a decision on to how to proceed. I think he made the right decision to do that. What Deputy Wallace is focusing...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Feb 2019)

Simon Coveney: -----to ensure that we learn lessons from the mistakes that were made. We have asked an independent firm, PwC-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Feb 2019)

Simon Coveney: Of course it has expertise, Mattie.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Feb 2019)

Simon Coveney: What I respectfully suggest is that we, as politicians, have limited expertise in this House to make the right judgment calls in relation to this project. Our job as legislators and policymakers is to put structures and systems in place that ensure underestimates such as this do not happen in the future. By and large, when one looks at many of the other big projects that have been...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Feb 2019)

Simon Coveney: We have undertaken a process now that will examine those issues and we will come back with a report to the Government which we will publish. Following that, we can have a debate in this House in terms of the actions we should take on the back of that. We have two challenges. First, we must get a children's hospital built. The current health infrastructure for children in this country...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (14 Feb 2019)

Simon Coveney: There have been numerous false dawns in terms of trying to get that done. Second, we ensure that we get value for money. We must recognise that a significant mistake was made in this process when costs and quantities were being estimated. Those mistakes have been corrected and we now have a more expensive project. As far as I am aware, in terms of the advice to the Government, nobody...