Results 11,481-11,500 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (8 Nov 2018)

Simon Coveney: The money message issue is not determined by the Government. It is just a matter of fact as to whether a money message is required. It is not a political judgment.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (8 Nov 2018)

Simon Coveney: It is required. I will have to ask the Minister to come back to the Deputy directly as I do not have the information.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí (Atógáil) - Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Simon Coveney: The Government is absolutely committed to the Sláintecare approach to reforming and changing for the better the healthcare system. The point of trying to get all-party agreement on the way forward was that this will take time and will involve a number of different Governments in its delivery. Whoever makes up those Governments, the fact that we now have all-party agreement on the way...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí (Atógáil) - Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Simon Coveney: On the Deputy's final question, legislating for services and access to services for people is one thing but we must have the capacity to deliver them.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí (Atógáil) - Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Simon Coveney: If the Deputy is suggesting that we should have found another €600 million or another €200 million or €300 million for healthcare, that would have had to come from somewhere else in the budget.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí (Atógáil) - Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Simon Coveney: This is a zero-sum game. Healthcare rightly continues to take a large portion of the overall budget. It has also rightly taken the lions share of the increased capacity for expenditure because that is where investment is needed. The priority in expenditure should be health and housing but there are limits to what we can spend, even in an economy that is growing at the pace we are currently...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (8 Nov 2018)

Simon Coveney: I hope the House will indulge me in expressing sadness and respect on hearing this morning of the passing of an exceptional Irishman, Professor Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin. On behalf of the Government, I express condolences to Mícheál's family and friends and to the cultural community more widely who are mourning his loss. Mícheál's talents as a...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí (Atógáil) - Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Simon Coveney: The issues we need to address require an honest and practical conversation. That is what the Taoiseach has contributed.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí (Atógáil) - Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Deputy for asking this question. It is a sensitive but very important issue on which the House needs to continue to provide leadership. People will remember the former Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, making a statement in March 2017 in announcing the recognition of Travellers as an ethnic group in Ireland. Since that statement, the Government has published the national Traveller...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí (Atógáil) - Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Simon Coveney: To make the Deputy's point, on which I agree with him, there is no lack of effort on the Government's part, but the outcomes are not changing. For example, in the latest budget we allocated €15 million for Traveller-specific accommodation, a 25% increase on the figure for last year. Looking at the recent history of this issue, it is no secret that the delivery of Traveller...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Nov 2018)

Simon Coveney: I will try to address this issue honestly rather than grandstanding, as the Deputy has just done. The issue of preparing for winter requires honest conversations. This is not just the Government's problem. It is everybody's problem.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Nov 2018)

Simon Coveney: The HSE, the hospitals, the Department of Health, Government, in terms of policy, financing and budgets, need to work together-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Nov 2018)

Simon Coveney: -----to ensure that the patient care we expect and that we need to deliver for people in hospitals, particularly through a pressurised winter period, can be as good as it possibly can be. The Taoiseach, in his usual style, was honest and upfront about one of the problems with regard to the Christmas period where there is a challenge around rostering and ensuring that senior team leaders in...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Nov 2018)

Simon Coveney: The Deputy is trying to spin that into an attack on consultants and nurses, which it never was and is not.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Nov 2018)

Simon Coveney: The issue regarding capacity is the real issue. Everybody accepts that, but it cannot be solved overnight. This year, increasing capacity is a priority for Government. In the past 12 months, an additional 240 beds have been opened, and a further 79 additional beds are planned for the fourth quarter of 2018 and early 2019. That includes an additional 30-bed ward in Our Lady of Lourdes...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí (Atógáil) - Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (8 Nov 2018)

Simon Coveney: People in our health service work extraordinarily hard, in many cases under very difficult circumstances. We know that in government. The Taoiseach is a doctor, and he has a very clear understanding of the way hospitals work. What we are at here is about short-term planning for what we know will be a very pressurised winter period, and addressing all issues to do with that, from capacity,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Nov 2018)

Simon Coveney: There are quite a few questions there. I will deal with the first question and the commentary on what the Taoiseach had to say at the start of this week. The Taoiseach was not blaming anyone for anything. What he did was point out the reality that at the most pressurised time of year in hospitals we need to ensure we have a full staff compliment. We need to ensure that people who have the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (8 Nov 2018)

Simon Coveney: Let me give the House an absolute assurance that the Minister for Health is taking this very seriously. Mr. Justice Peter Kelly is a serious individual and when he makes a judgment like this the Government listens and acts on it. It is important to outline to the House how recruitment in the HSE actually works. HSE recruitment is managed by the national recruitment service....

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Policy (8 Nov 2018)

Simon Coveney: I am aware of the current political situation in Brazil, including the recent election of Jair Bolsonaro as the next President of Brazil. Officials in my Department in Dublin, at our Embassy in Brasília, and at our Consulate-General in São Paulo have been monitoring political developments closely, as well as engaging with civil society organisations and EU colleagues. Brazil is...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (8 Nov 2018)

Simon Coveney: The crisis in Yemen is a source of grave concern, and reports of the imminent threat of famine, of violations of basic human rights, and of significant public health challenges are incredibly worrying. Yemen has experienced over three years of armed conflict which has been the driving force in a devastating, protracted humanitarian crisis. The UN reports that 17.8 million people are currently...