Results 13,201-13,220 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Northern Ireland: Statements (7 Mar 2018)

Simon Coveney: It depends on the criticism.

Northern Ireland: Statements (7 Mar 2018)

Simon Coveney: I am very pleased to open the statements on Northern Ireland on behalf of the Government. It is very important that the House has this regular opportunity to discuss Northern Ireland matters. I look forward to hearing views on all sides, which will certainly inform the Government's approach. There have been a number of significant developments since our last discussion in this format in...

Seanad: Foreign Affairs: Statements (Resumed) (7 Mar 2018)

Simon Coveney: I will certainly take more than eight minutes to answer some of the questions that were raised today. First, I take this opportunity to address the Seanad on matters relating to foreign affairs to wrap up on the debate that took place on 6 February. Unfortunately, I was not able to be here, but the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, was here in my place. I would like to make some remarks on...

Seanad: Foreign Affairs: Statements (Resumed) (7 Mar 2018)

Simon Coveney: We will have to pick and choose the areas if there is joint procurement in terms of trying to get value for money. We have, for example, a memorandum of understanding with the United Kingdom on defence, and procurement is one of the areas on which we work with it, but that does not mean we do not procure inappropriately or with respect to weaponry that is inappropriate in terms of what...

Seanad: Foreign Affairs: Statements (Resumed) (7 Mar 2018)

Simon Coveney: I am in the hands of the Seanad. I will happily answer any questions I can.

Seanad: Foreign Affairs: Statements (Resumed) (7 Mar 2018)

Simon Coveney: I will have to come back to the Senator on the national implementation plan because I do not know the answer to the question. I can check with the Department of Defence, which is a former Department of mine, and we can revert to him.

Seanad: Foreign Affairs: Statements (Resumed) (7 Mar 2018)

Simon Coveney: I will have to come back to Senator Higgins on the detail of that question.

Seanad: Foreign Affairs: Statements (Resumed) (7 Mar 2018)

Simon Coveney: I will take note of the two questions and come back to the Senator directly.

Seanad: Foreign Affairs: Statements (Resumed) (7 Mar 2018)

Simon Coveney: I think I answered a pretty broad-ranging group of questions. I dealt with about a dozen different issues. If the Senator has specific questions on the two matters she raised, I said I would come back to her specifically. I cannot be expected to give her an answer when I do not have the details in front of me. On Senator Mullen's question on an African agrifood fund, we have such a fund....

Seanad: Foreign Affairs: Statements (Resumed) (7 Mar 2018)

Simon Coveney: On the point raised by Senator Mullen regarding the target of 0.7% of GDP, I will provide a much more detailed statement when I have something approved by Government, hopefully in the coming weeks. I will be pleased to debate the issue in both Houses because it will be part of a broader White Paper process for expanding our overseas development aid programme.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Applications (6 Mar 2018)

Simon Coveney: All passport applications are subject to the provisions of the Passports Act 2008 (“the Act”) which provides, among other things, that a person must be an Irish citizen before a passport can be issued to him or her. The question of the applicant's entitlement to Irish citizenship must be looked at with reference to Irish law, and in particular, the Irish Nationality and...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Syrian Conflict (6 Mar 2018)

Simon Coveney: I am extremely concerned by the recent increase in violence in Syria, and in particular the vicious siege of Eastern Ghouta, which has cost the lives of hundreds of civilians in recent weeks. The barbarity of the attacks by the Syrian regime on its own people, the deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure, including homes, hospitals and schools, and the refusal of the Assad regime to...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Good Friday Agreement (6 Mar 2018)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take questions 45 and 47 together. As co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, the Government, working with the British Government, has spared no effort in supporting and facilitating talks on the formation of a new Executive, over many months. Fully functioning, devolved, power-sharing Institutions are the only way forward for Northern Ireland, and are urgently...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Advertising Campaigns (6 Mar 2018)

Simon Coveney: My Department has not commissioned any advertorial content in the past 12 months and there are no agencies under the remit of my Department.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Brexit Documents (6 Mar 2018)

Simon Coveney: The Guidelines adopted by the European Council last December called upon the Union negotiator and the United Kingdom to complete the work on all withdrawal issues, including those not yet addressed in the first phase, in conformity with the European Council guidelines of 29 April 2017, to consolidate the results obtained, and to start drafting the relevant parts of the Withdrawal Agreement....

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Meetings (28 Feb 2018)

Simon Coveney: My Department engages with a wide range of Irish and international media publications and outlets on a daily basis. The purpose of this engagement is to assist with queries submitted by the media concerned and as necessary, to provide relevant background information that assists with understanding of and reporting on the work of my Department and Ireland’s diplomatic missions abroad...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Syrian Conflict (27 Feb 2018)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 136, 145 to 147, inclusive, and 149 together. I am extremely concerned by the recent increase in violence in Syria, and in particular the vicious siege of Eastern Ghouta, which has cost the lives of hundreds of civilians in recent days. The barbarity of the attacks by the Syrian regime on its own people, the deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure,...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Freedom of Information Data (27 Feb 2018)

Simon Coveney: The Office of the Information Commissioner keeps the operation of the Freedom of Information Act under review and publishes relevant statistics in its Annual Reports. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that, to date, for the 1,096 freedom of information requests received by my Department in the period 2010 to 2017 inclusive the Office of the Information Commissioner did not vary or annul any...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: International Relations (27 Feb 2018)

Simon Coveney: Ireland does not have a resident Embassy in Uzbekistan and there is no Uzbek Embassy in Dublin, so contacts at political and official level with the Uzbek authorities are limited. In the absence of such direct links, our main channels of engagement with Uzbekistan and other countries in the Central Asia region are through the EU, and multilateral fora such as the UN and the OSCE. Trade flows...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Military Aircraft (27 Feb 2018)

Simon Coveney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 139 and 140 together. The Air Navigation (Foreign Military Aircraft) Order gives the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade primary responsibility for the regulation of activity, both landing in the State and overflying the State, by foreign military aircraft. During 2017, my Department received 515 requests for landings by military aircraft at airports in...