Results 13,461-13,480 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Leaders' Questions (25 Jan 2018)

Simon Coveney: The option being called for today, which is a complete reversal of the rate band changes from 2012, would cost an estimated extra €70 million this year on top of what was already announced. We have just been through a budgetary process and Fianna Fáil was involved in that-----

Leaders' Questions (25 Jan 2018)

Simon Coveney: This was not a major issue during those discussions-----

Leaders' Questions (25 Jan 2018)

Simon Coveney: We have made a significant change this week that is welcome. It will solve the problem for many thousands of people.

Leaders' Questions (25 Jan 2018)

Simon Coveney: We are moving towards introducing a new approach to pensions, which is based on lifetime contributions. The more one pays the more one gets. This new pension system will be implemented post-2020.

Leaders' Questions (25 Jan 2018)

Simon Coveney: In the meantime we are trying to deal with an anomaly in as fair a way as possible-----

Leaders' Questions (25 Jan 2018)

Simon Coveney: The Minister has acted in good faith this week and has taken a huge step forward.

Other Questions: International Sanctions Application (25 Jan 2018)

Simon Coveney: The European Union is not a perfect structure when it comes to foreign policy.

Other Questions: International Sanctions Application (25 Jan 2018)

Simon Coveney: There are certain conflicts and issues on which the European Union is able to create a firm consensus and when we can do this, the European Union acts together. However, when we cannot do this, EU countries act separately, which undermines the Union's authority and effectiveness. There are plenty of examples of this. The question the Deputy asked relates to Russia, on which there is...

Other Questions: EU Agreements (25 Jan 2018)

Simon Coveney: The Government fully supports the EU-Cuba Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement, PDCA, which was signed by each EU member state and the Cuban Minister for Foreign Affairs in the margins of the Foreign Affairs Council in December 2016. This is the first bilateral agreement between the EU and Cuba. Its signature marked a further positive step forward in relations between Cuba and the...

Other Questions: EU Agreements (25 Jan 2018)

Simon Coveney: It is positive that relationships are being normalised and we are moving away from Cuba's isolation. While I do not have an exact timeline on ratification of the agreement, I anticipate that we will try to progress the matter this year. I will revert to the Deputy with an accurate timeline because I do not want to give a date that we will not meet.

Other Questions: EU Agreements (25 Jan 2018)

Simon Coveney: It is important to be upfront about the serious concerns about human rights issues in Cuba, particularly with regard to civil and political rights, the exercise of free speech and freedom of assembly. The way in which we address our concerns should be through political dialogue, rather than isolation. That is the direction in which the process is now moving. As I indicated, we will support...

Other Questions: Arms Trade (25 Jan 2018)

Simon Coveney: Ireland has advocated in this area. We worked, for example, with the Netherlands, which took the lead on a motion at the UN Human Rights Council, UNHRC, to insist on an international, independent inspection team to investigate accusations of war crimes. That created quite a lot of tension at the UNHRC but Ireland was very strongly supportive of what the Netherlands was trying to do. It is...

Other Questions: Arms Trade (25 Jan 2018)

Simon Coveney: The Acting Chairman was just about to call Deputy Wallace.

Other Questions: Arms Trade (25 Jan 2018)

Simon Coveney: He is just enthusiastic.

Other Questions: International Sanctions Application (25 Jan 2018)

Simon Coveney: The sanctions to which the Deputy refers were introduced when I was Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. We had been planning a huge trade mission to Russia that we had to cancel because of their introduction. In that context, I am very clear on the impact of the sanctions but that does not mean that imposing them was not the right thing to do. In 2014 the EU imposed targeted...

Other Questions: International Sanctions Application (25 Jan 2018)

Simon Coveney: I will be brief because we do not have time to get into an in-depth debate on Ukraine. I have been to Kiev. I went there as an election observer and I do not necessarily accept Deputy Wallace's interpretation of what happened. Ireland takes an independent stance all of the time, particularly at UN fora. However, when the EU makes a collective decision for good reasons then it makes sense...

Other Questions: Good Friday Agreement (25 Jan 2018)

Simon Coveney: I am doing everything I can to facilitate a process to allow an accommodation between the two largest parties, and also engagement and involvement on the part of the other three parties, to try to get a fully inclusive Executive up and running again and making decisions for people in Northern Ireland. That is what everybody wants. It is a difficult political exercise because there were two...

Other Questions: Arms Trade (25 Jan 2018)

Simon Coveney: I am aware that Norway has announced that it is suspending the export of weapons and ammunition to the United Arab Emirates, UAE. Ireland does not have an arms industry and therefore does not export arms to the UAE. There is no consensus at present at EU level on an arms embargo affecting the UAE. On the problems posed by arms transfers to conflict regions generally, Ireland's efforts...

Other Questions: Arms Trade (25 Jan 2018)

Simon Coveney: We have advocated very strongly the viewpoint that the EU needs to take a more robust political approach to trying to deal with the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen, which is essentially a funded civil war, with funding and arms coming from outside. There are a number of countries responsible for this continuing. The EU does need to play a constructive and determined role in trying to...

Other Questions: Trade Missions (25 Jan 2018)

Simon Coveney: I raised a whole load of issues with Prime Minister Netanyahu, including the responsibilities of Israel in the context of occupation. We spent a lot of time talking about what needs to happen in terms of assisting Palestinians in Gaza in particular, where there are significant socioeconomic and environmental pressures linked to the availability of water and power, overcrowding, housing,...