Results 10,961-10,980 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Ministerial Meetings (29 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: I attended the 22nd EU-ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting (FMM) in Brussels on 21 January which was an opportunity to build relations with 10 countries from South East Asia and to offer support to our shared priority of elevating the relationship between our two regional blocs. While at the FMM, I participated in both the retreat and plenary sessions, where countries emphasised...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: EU Issues (29 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: The European Parliament voted on 12 September 2018 on the Sargentini report which proposed the launching of Article 7 proceedings against Hungary. The General Affairs Council considered the issue at its meeting on 12 November, and again on the 11 December. Our concerns about issues relating to the rule of law in Hungary are well known.  The Taoiseach raised these when...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Staff Recruitment (29 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: The staffing levels of many units in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and its missions overseas have been augmented in response to Brexit.  My Department has strengthened the capacity of the Passport Service by recruiting additional permanent staff to respond to the general increase in passport applications.  Those staff are located in the Passport Service offices in...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Brexit Issues (29 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: With regard to the facilitation of the travel of persons, under the Common Travel Area, Irish and British citizens may move freely and reside in either jurisdiction.  Both the Government of Ireland and the UK Government have committed to maintaining the CTA in all scenarios. With regard to the movement of goods, increased connectivity and capacity options direct to the EU are a key part...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights Cases (29 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: The Government closely follows developments in relation to the treatment of members of the LGBTI community in Russia and, in particular, is well aware of the widespread reports of the persecution of gay men in Chechnya. When the reports came to notice, senior officials of my Department met the Russian Ambassador to convey the grave concerns of the Government, and of the Irish public, at these...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights Committees (29 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: The establishment of the Business and Human Rights Implementation Group is a key commitment of the National Plan on Business and Human Rights. I am very grateful to have secured the agreement of Ms Breege O’Donoghue, formerly Primark’s Group Director of New Markets and Business Development, to chair the Group, which brings together representatives of 23 organisations, from...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Northern Ireland (29 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: Respect for linguistic diversity and the Irish language are important elements of the Good Friday Agreement. A number of elements of the Good Friday and St Andrews Agreements have not yet been fully implemented, including an Irish Language Act for Northern Ireland.  The Government’s firm position is that the Good Friday Agreement and subsequent Agreements must be implemented...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Brexit Negotiations (29 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: Following his speculative remarks at the press briefing on 22 January, Commission spokesperson Margaritis Schinas clarified the Commission's position at a press briefing on 23 January, stating that the EU is determined to do all it can, deal or no deal, to avoid the need for a border and to protect peace in Northern Ireland. He added that the EU is fully behind Ireland and has expressed,...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Brexit Issues (29 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: Work across Government has identified key issues arising in each Brexit scenario, including in a no deal scenario.  At its meeting of 11 December the Government agreed, that while work on Brexit preparedness for the central case scenario should continue, in light of ongoing political uncertainties and the Brexit deadline of 29 March, greater immediate priority must now be give to...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Applications (29 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: All passport applications are subject to the terms of the Passports Act, 2008, as amended (“the Act“). The Act provides a legal basis for the various policies and procedures that are applied by the Passport Service in the issue of passports. Section 10 of the Act provides that a passport will issue in the name of a citizen as it appears on his/her birth certificate or...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Ministerial Meetings (29 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: In line with past years, Government Minsters will undertake a comprehensive 'Promote Ireland' programme of engagements in the US over the St. Patrick's Day period. Fourteen US cities are to be visited by seven Government Ministers, the Attorney General and Taoiseach. This is an increase of nearly 50% on the previous year's engagements and represents one of our most ambitious programmes to the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: European Council Meetings (29 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: There was no discussion of Brexit at the Foreign Affairs Council as it was not on the agenda; Brexit is discussed at the General Affairs Council (Article 50). I did meet with Michel Barnier in the margins of the Foreign Affairs Council. We discussed the disappointing but not unexpected outcome of the 15 January vote in the House of Commons on the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement. Both Mr...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Applications (29 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: All passport applications are subject to the provisions of the Passports Act, 2008 as amended (“the Act”). The Act provides that a person must, among other things, be an Irish citizen before a passport can be issued to him or her. Entitlement to Irish citizenship is in turn determined by the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1965, as amended, under which and in general,...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Northern Ireland (29 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: Officials of my Department in Dublin and in the British-Irish Secretariat in Belfast, as well as colleagues in the Department of Justice and Equality, were in ongoing contact with their counterparts in the NIO following the car-bomb attack and subsequent security incidents in Derry, and both Minister Flanagan and I were kept fully briefed on developments on an ongoing basis throughout that...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Brexit Negotiations (29 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: I have not yet had the opportunity to speak to Foreign Minister Czaputowicz since he made his comments on the backstop in a press interview. However, I addressed this issue with Minister Czaputowicz when he made this suggestion to me when we met during his visit to Dublin last December. On that occasion I made clear that a time-limit would be completely contrary to the purpose of the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Ministerial Meetings (29 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 123 and 124 together. I met the Ambassador of Israel at the National Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration on Sunday, 27 January. I have also spoken to the Ambassador of Israel on the phone on a number of occasions, to receive his Government's views in relation to the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill, and to convey my own. I have met and...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Ministerial Meetings (29 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: I last met with the EU Ambassadors as a group at a lunch in the Bulgarian Embassy in June 2018. I frequently meet individual ambassadors. Officials from my department are in regular contact with the EU Ambassadors, both individually and as a group, including at monthly briefings organised by the Embassy of the Member State holding the EU Presidency. In addition, a senior official...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Ministerial Meetings (29 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: Brexit is a priority issue for this Government and the Taoiseach, my cabinet colleagues and I have taken every opportunity to engage with EU partners and the UK to advance Ireland’s priorities. I have not yet had the opportunity to meet with UK Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, Stephen Barclay, though I have spoken with him by phone following his appointment late last year. ...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Northern Ireland (29 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: The continuing absence of vital institutions of the Good Friday Agreement is a source of deep concern for the Government, as it is for the British Government. The Government will continue to do everything in its power, in accordance with its responsibilities as co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, to secure the effective operation of all of its institutions. I visited Belfast on 9...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Good Friday Agreement (29 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: The Good Friday Agreement was concluded on 10 April 1998 following talks between the political parties in Northern Ireland and the Irish and British Governments. The Agreement consists of two elements, the Multi-Party Agreement reached between the Northern Ireland political parties and the two Governments, and an agreement between the Irish and British Governments to which the Multi-Party...