Results 12,661-12,680 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Leaders' Questions (3 May 2018)

Simon Coveney: Nobody in this House is in any doubt as to how serious this situation is. I do not think any one party is any more outraged than any other. This is a disgraceful situation that should not have happened. We are now setting about and working with all of the other parties to put a comprehensive process in place that is transparent, open and will be reassuring to women who need that...

Leaders' Questions (3 May 2018)

Simon Coveney: Can I answer?

Leaders' Questions (3 May 2018)

Simon Coveney: I have said that it is the Government's judgment that Tony O'Brien can be the most use to the women of Ireland in establishing facts here if he focuses fully on trying to assist in the process that the-----

Leaders' Questions (3 May 2018)

Simon Coveney: -----Government puts together between now and when he leaves the HSE in a few weeks.

Leaders' Questions (3 May 2018)

Simon Coveney: We all have to work together to get to the bottom of this-----

Leaders' Questions (3 May 2018)

Simon Coveney: -----and reassure women across the country.

Leaders' Questions (3 May 2018)

Simon Coveney: I welcome the first thing the Deputy said about encouraging people to continue to believe in and to use the screening systems. We are reaching out to Opposition spokespeople, as the Minister did yesterday. My understanding is that Deputy Bríd Smith is the only person who did not agree with the way forward that has been charted from yesterday and that is her right. We are listening to...

Leaders' Questions (3 May 2018)

Simon Coveney: Having spoken with the Minister for Health, and it is also breaking in the media now, Tony O'Brien has confirmed to the Minister that he will take a leave of absence from any involvement outside the HSE between now and when he steps down from the HSE so he can focus on contributing in a positive manner to the work that needs to be done to put this right. This is the appropriate course of...

Leaders' Questions (3 May 2018)

Simon Coveney: This is about accountability and providing full information. It is about responding comprehensively to the fact that there was a disgraceful breach of trust and that women were denied information they should have had. Yesterday, Tony O'Brien apologised for that happening. Some days ago the clinical director of CervicalCheck stepped down. We have also seen the senior official in charge of...

Leaders' Questions (3 May 2018)

Simon Coveney: The Deputy has asked a lot of questions and I will try to answer as many of them as I can. First, there is a real sense of anger and frustration within Government this week in regard to what has happened and how it happened. Irish women have been badly let down. Many feel very vulnerable and very angry about this. I had the opportunity this morning of speaking to the husband of one of the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Applications Administration (3 May 2018)

Simon Coveney: Since 29 March 2016, the Passport Service has required all first time passport applicants, aged 18 and above, who are resident in Ireland to hold a valid Public Services Card (PSC). This requirement also applies to the small number of adult passport applicants, whose passport was issued before 1 January 2005 and has been reported as lost, stolen or damaged and those whose passport expired...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (3 May 2018)

Simon Coveney: I have noted the public statement from ETA on 20 April and the response of the Spanish authorities. I sincerely hope that the conflict is at an end, and that the people of Spain are never subjected to such violence again.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights Cases (3 May 2018)

Simon Coveney: I refer the Deputy to my answer to question no. 70, Ref No: 17815/18, on Tuesday, 1 May 2018, which is repeated here. On 20 March last, the European Court of Human Rights issued its judgment on the Government’s application for a revision of the ruling in the 1978 Ireland v UK case. The ruling is being fully considered by the Government. It is important to note that, although the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights Cases (3 May 2018)

Simon Coveney: I am aware of the case raised by the Deputy, and I am concerned by reports of the conduct of this trial, and by the original death sentences imposed. I am also aware that the death sentences of the four men in question were commuted by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa last week and that life sentences have now been imposed. Ireland condemns the use of the death penalty in all circumstances,...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Staff Training (3 May 2018)

Simon Coveney: As the Deputy has not specified a timeframe for this question I can confirm that during the most recent financial years 2016 and 2017 my Department has not spent any money on facilitating departmental staff attendance at social media training conferences or other social media-related external events. From time to time the Department’s eighty missions overseas may incur modest...

Topical Issue Debate (Resumed): Northern Ireland (2 May 2018)

Simon Coveney: It is important to say in the context of this debate that while there are genuine and real concerns about this case, I know that all in this House will agree there is no place for violence or the threat of violence in the pursuit of political aims in Northern Ireland or anywhere in this island. We again call on all those dissident republican groups which have not yet done so to renounce...

Topical Issue Debate (Resumed): Northern Ireland (2 May 2018)

Simon Coveney: I thank the Deputies for raising this important issue. My officials and I have been following and engaging on this matter on an ongoing basis. Mr. Taylor who is from Derry was a member of a dissident republican group in recent years. In 1994 he was sentenced to 18 years in prison after he had been seriously injured in a premature explosion in Derry. He was released under the terms of...

Questions on Promised Legislation (2 May 2018)

Simon Coveney: What are you suggesting?

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Religious Persecution (2 May 2018)

Simon Coveney: I have received the Church in Chains report entitled “Official India: On the side of the militants”, setting out the details of a number of violent incidents targeting Christian communities in India. The agenda for the next EU Foreign Affairs Council does not include India as a topic for discussion. A suitable opportunity to raise such concerns is in the context of the EU-India...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Northern Ireland (2 May 2018)

Simon Coveney: Dealing with long-outstanding issues relating to the legacy of the Troubles are of the utmost importance to the Government. The Programme for a Partnership Government highlights this priority, including a specific reference to implementation of the institutional framework on the past, as provided for under the Stormont House Agreement 2014. In the discussions at Stormont Castle on...