Results 11,881-11,900 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí (Atógáil) - Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (20 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: While the transition is happening we need to protect renters, in particular, and people who need affordable properties-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí (Atógáil) - Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (20 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: Which is why we have changed the rental market but the Deputy does not want to recognise progress because she wants to keep talking about problems.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (20 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: I also take the opportunity to thank Kathleen O'Toole who has done an extraordinarily good job. What the Government has done to date is simply to note the report because there are many recommendations in it. The Minister, Deputy Flanagan, is consulting with other political parties and other stakeholders on an implementation plan which he has committed to bring to Government within three...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (20 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: Yes, I am is the answer to both of those questions. We are at the business end of these negotiations and this is difficult, and it was always going to be difficult. The complexity of Britain leaving the European Union and of getting the complexity of a withdrawal treaty finalised, in terms of legal text that provides absolute certainty and that will stand to legal scrutiny and so on, was...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí (Atógáil) - Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (20 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: As the Deputy well knows, as a former Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, the debate around the choices for a budget generally happen around budget day. There are all sorts of speculation and kite flying, mainly not from Ministers but from other people trying to provoke a response from the Government to get an idea what is and is not going to happen on budget day. I suspect this is...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí (Atógáil) - Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (20 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: We have learned much over the past seven years. The Deputy will remember much of it in terms of the debates and the hard decisions which needed to be made in difficult circumstances in the build-up to budgets, particularly five, six and seven years ago when he, as then Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, had to make difficult choices. I am glad to say we are not in that situation...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí (Atógáil) - Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (20 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: When I met Sophia's father on the way into Government Buildings on Tuesday, I spoke to him about the matter. I experienced some of the frustration which I am sure the Deputy has also experienced when speaking to him at the pressures he, his family and daughter are facing as a result of having to wait for surgery. The long-term strategy to develop sustainable scoliosis services from 2018...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí (Atógáil) - Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (20 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: I have not presented figures.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí (Atógáil) - Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (20 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: I understand Sophia's family have a meeting in the hospital today.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí (Atógáil) - Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (20 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: I did not give figures for waiting lists, but I will. Waiting list figures at the end of August show that there are 188 patients on the waiting list for spinal surgery, of whom 109 are awaiting a spinal fusion. A total of 90 of the patients are actively waiting; 14 are come-ins, which means that they have a date for surgery; 40 have had surgery suspended; while 44 are on a planned procedure...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and I welcome the families here today. They clearly made a strong impression on the Deputy when they met him. We want to support them. It would perhaps have been helpful had the Deputy given me a little notice that he would raise this. I could have provided a more detailed answer.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (20 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: I will commit to talk to the Minister, Deputy Harris, about getting a more detailed answer for the Deputy. I know this is a stressful time for those with spinal muscular atrophy and that patients and their families face enormous day-to-day challenges in dealing with this progressive and life-limiting condition. On 17 May, the European Medicines Agency granted market authorisation for...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí (Atógáil) - Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (20 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: I was not suggesting we change precedent and that the Deputy give me notice of questions. I am just saying I would have liked to have given him a more accurate answer. I am conscious of this issue. It is being considered by the HSE for approval right now but it needs to go through the process to ensure that the same procedures apply to this drug as to others. I am very familiar with the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Properties (20 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: My Department does not own or control any land in County Meath. Any properties or land occupied by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the State are rented and discharged by the Office of Public Works.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights Cases (20 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: I am aware of the case referred to by Deputy Crowe, and of the reports that the individual in question, and other prisoners, have been denied adequate healthcare in prison. Ireland attaches great importance to safeguarding the human rights of all prisoners, with due regard for the international standards enshrined in the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. ...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights Cases (20 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: Ireland appreciates the magnitude of the challenges facing Egypt and we are committed to supporting Egypt in dealing with these. However, I believe that a strong and stable democracy cannot flourish without full respect for fundamental rights and freedoms. In this regard, Ireland is unequivocal in its stance on the death penalty. We oppose and condemn its use in all circumstances. We...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights Cases (20 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: The recent sentencing of Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, two Reuters journalists working in Myanmar, to seven years in prison under the Official Secrets Act, is a cause of significant concern. That they were arrested for covering allegations of grave human rights violations by the Myanmar Military against the Rohingya community in Rakhine State makes this case all the more worrying. Media...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Brexit Negotiations (20 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: From the outset of these negotiations, the Government has been clear and consistent in our position that a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland must be avoided under any circumstances. A legally operable ‘backstop’ which avoids a hard border and protects the integrity of the single market is essential for agreeing the Withdrawal Agreement, so as to provide the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Northern Ireland (20 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: I am in ongoing engagement 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 ongoing 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 recently on 24...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Brexit Issues (19 Sep 2018)

Simon Coveney: 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 with special responsibility for Brexit in May 2017 I have overseen a sustained intensification of these efforts. To this end, co-ordination of the whole-of-Government response to Brexit is being taken...