Results 11,841-11,860 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Expenditure (2 Oct 2018)

Simon Coveney: My Department participated in the National Ploughing Championships 2018 in order to increase public understanding of the ways in which the Department and Ireland’s diplomatic missions abroad engage with our international partners and wider audiences so as to advance the interests of Ireland and Irish citizens by supporting overseas trade, assisting Irish companies and State agencies...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights Cases (27 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: I am aware of the case of Mr Thirumurugan Gandhi, and of his arrest in August. The promotion and protection of human rights is an integral part of Ireland’s foreign policy. Ireland works closely with Human Rights Defenders to protect the work they do and to promote the value of civil society space. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights sets out that every person has...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Staff Data (27 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: There are six staff in the Press Section of the Communications Unit in my Department. There are a further four officers engaged in the area of public outreach and five officers covering web and digital issues. Two additional officers in the Unit are dedicated to Brexit and European Union-related communications. These staff are overseen by a Head and a Deputy Head of Communications. There are...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Public Relations Contracts Data (27 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: My Department has not recruited any public relations companies in 2018, nor incurred expenditure on external public relations. While my Department has from time to time commissioned companies with a public relations and communications background, this has been done with a view to the provision of other professional services such as project management, logistics and event management,...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Brexit Supports (27 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: I have recently launched a national public information and outreach campaign aimed at Getting Ireland Brexit Ready. This campaign aims to provide information to citizens on the current state of play of the negotiations, the work going on across Government to prepare for Brexit, as well as the comprehensive range of financial and other supports that are available for business and other key...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: International Criminal Court (27 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: Ireland is not currently a member of the UN Security Council, and is therefore not in a position to formally offer support on the question of referring Myanmar to the International Criminal Court. However, as the Deputy notes, the findings of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar (IIFFM) make for harrowing reading. The report corroborates many of the eyewitness...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Middle East Peace Process (27 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: When I visited Ramallah last January, I extended an invitation to President Abbas to visit Ireland again, ten years after his last visit. I was delighted that he took up this invitation last weekend, and was pleased to be able to welcome him to Ireland. The Taoiseach and I had a substantive and useful meeting with President Abbas at Farmleigh on 22 September, following on from his meeting...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Northern Ireland (27 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: I am engaging closely and on an ongoing basis with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Karen Bradley, as both Governments continue to work together as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement, to address the continuing absence of the power-sharing Executive and Assembly in Northern Ireland, as well as the North-South Ministerial Council. I met with Secretary of State Bradley most...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Ministerial Meetings (26 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: I met with Michel Barnier on 18 September in Brussels and discussed progress in the negotiations between the EU and UK on the Withdrawal Agreement and the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland. Mr Barnier confirmed once again his view that without a backstop there can be no Withdrawal Agreement. He briefed me on his assessment that it is time to ‘de-dramatise’ the Protocol...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Brexit Issues (26 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 110 and 111 together. The Government’s contingency planning for Brexit was initiated well in advance of the UK referendum in June 2016 and since my appointment as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade in June 2017 I have overseen a sustained intensification of these efforts. As part of these efforts, the Government is organising “Getting Ireland...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Brexit Negotiations (26 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: Following the informal European Council Summit in Salzburg on 20 September, the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, restated the EU’s position that there will be no Withdrawal Agreement without a solid, operational and legally-binding Irish backstop. EU Leaders at the Summit reaffirmed their full support for Michel Barnier in his negotiations, including his efforts to...

Confidence in the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government: Motion [Private Members] (25 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: It is a protest party.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: EU Sanctions (25 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: On 12 September 2018, the European Parliament, under A7 of the Treaty on European Union, adopted a reasoned proposal to the Council, inviting the Council to determine whether there is a clear risk of a serious breach by Hungary of the values on which the European Union is founded. The President of the European Parliament formally communicated this proposal to the President of the Council of...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Brexit Issues (25 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: Maintaining regular contact with our fellow EU Member States, and the EU Commission, has been a vital aspect of ensuring that Ireland’s priorities, in particular the continued protection of the Good Friday Agreement, are understood and reinforced as part of the Brexit negotiations. To this end, I, as well as other members of Government and senior officials, meet with Ministers and...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Brexit Issues (25 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: In June I met with my Spanish counterpart, Josep Borrell, in the margins of the Foreign Affairs Council and expressed my appreciation for Spain’s continued support for Ireland and for the inclusion of a legally binding backstop arrangement in the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland which is to form part of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement. We also discussed the ongoing...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: UN Resolutions (25 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 126 and 127 together. Ireland, along with our EU partners, has been a consistent supporter of the annual resolution put forward by Cuba at the United Nations General Assembly regarding the US economic blockade of Cuba. We have voted in support of this resolution on all of the 26 previous occasions that it has been put forward by Cuba. Ireland’s...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Expenditure (25 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: As the Deputy will appreciate, my officials are currently in discussion with officials in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) regarding the Department’s 2019 Estimates provisions for the Department’s two Votes, Vote 27 – International Co-operation and Vote 28 – Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. These discussions will obviously take account...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights Cases (25 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: I am aware of the recent protests in Nicaragua and of the case of the Belgian-Nicaraguan medical student who was detained, to which the Deputy refers. The right to freedom of expression and to peaceful demonstration are fundamental to a functioning democracy. I wholeheartedly condemn the use of violence and intimidation, and the arbitrary detention of citizens attempting to peacefully express...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Brexit Supports (25 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: I have recently launched a national public information and outreach campaign aimed at Getting Ireland Brexit Ready. This campaign aims to provide information to citizens on the current state of play of the negotiations, the work going on across Government to prepare for Brexit, as well as the comprehensive range of financial and other supports that are available for business and other key...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Brexit Negotiations (25 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: I met with Michel Barnier on 18 September in Brussels and discussed progress in the negotiations between the EU and UK on the Withdrawal Agreement and the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland. Mr Barnier confirmed once again his view that without a backstop there can be no Withdrawal Agreement. He briefed me on his assessment that it is time to ‘de-dramatise’ the Protocol...