Results 13,921-13,940 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Northern Ireland Issues and Implications of Brexit for Good Friday Agreement: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (23 Nov 2017)

Simon Coveney: There are elements of the Good Friday Agreement that are not as definitive as the Senator might like in terms of box ticking. They are about anticipating an evolution of an improved relationship between communities and the obligation to try to promote that. It is an ongoing process and it is not the case that it is done or not done. There are a number of examples of this in the Good Friday...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Northern Ireland Issues and Implications of Brexit for Good Friday Agreement: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (23 Nov 2017)

Simon Coveney: -----the Act and how it is treated in the context of the withdrawal Bill, I believe that it would be difficult to simply exempt it, but I certainly believe that there needs to be language in any final agreement. The withdrawal Bill is the way in which the British Government is dealing with how it sees Brexit going from a legislative point of view. What actually matters here is the final...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Northern Ireland Issues and Implications of Brexit for Good Friday Agreement: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (23 Nov 2017)

Simon Coveney: The implications of what? Sorry, I was just distracted there for second.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Northern Ireland Issues and Implications of Brexit for Good Friday Agreement: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (23 Nov 2017)

Simon Coveney: It would probably be a more balanced discussion if they were here, which would be very helpful. It would probably be a more challenging discussion too in terms of many of the issues about which we are talking because they impact the unionist community as much as they impact the nationalist community. Deputy O'Sullivan raised the issue of Justice for the Forgotten and the Hooded Men. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Northern Ireland Issues and Implications of Brexit for Good Friday Agreement: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (23 Nov 2017)

Simon Coveney: And the chickens.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Northern Ireland Issues and Implications of Brexit for Good Friday Agreement: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (23 Nov 2017)

Simon Coveney: May I request that we pause for a moment?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Northern Ireland Issues and Implications of Brexit for Good Friday Agreement: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (23 Nov 2017)

Simon Coveney: There are plenty of questions there, some of which will cause a bit of controversy. Language and culture issues have been a big part of the discussions between the DUP and Sinn Féin. These discussions have stopped for the past two weeks but there was certainly a ten-week period when we tried to facilitate private discussions on a bilateral basis between the two parties, with the support...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Northern Ireland Issues and Implications of Brexit for Good Friday Agreement: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (23 Nov 2017)

Simon Coveney: I will.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Northern Ireland Issues and Implications of Brexit for Good Friday Agreement: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (23 Nov 2017)

Simon Coveney: I will try to quickly address them. The capital plan will take into account the vulnerability and the opportunity in the Border area with more investment and that is very much part of the Ireland 2040 plan, the new national planning framework, which will set the context for where the capital spend goes in the next ten to 20 years. I appreciate the Border issue is a nightmare for those...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Northern Ireland Issues and Implications of Brexit for Good Friday Agreement: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (23 Nov 2017)

Simon Coveney: Yes. Our officials have met them, the previous Minister, Deputy Flanagan, met them, and I of course would also be happy to do the same. It is just a question of agreeing a time but I would be more than happy to do so. That would be no problem.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Northern Ireland Issues and Implications of Brexit for Good Friday Agreement: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (23 Nov 2017)

Simon Coveney: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Northern Ireland Issues and Implications of Brexit for Good Friday Agreement: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (23 Nov 2017)

Simon Coveney: This is the first that I have heard of this case but I will come back to it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement: Northern Ireland Issues and Implications of Brexit for Good Friday Agreement: Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (23 Nov 2017)

Simon Coveney: We have consistently raised the issue of funding. As this is primarily a matter for the British Government, I do not want to overreach here but for the legacy structures under the Stormont House Agreement to be credible, they obviously have to be properly funded. That has been recognised by the British Government and it is my view that funding will not be an obstacle to the setting up and...

Questions on Promised Legislation (23 Nov 2017)

Simon Coveney: I will happily deal with the issue. I can assure the Deputy that the Taoiseach has made his views on the issue very clearly known. Ireland wants more trade deals put in place, but we have very strong defensive issues, in particular on beef. Any Mercosur deal is very sensitive and the Irish concerns have been very forcefully made by the Taoiseach. We have sought and received support from...

Leaders' Questions (23 Nov 2017)

Simon Coveney: We set up a tribunal to investigate that very thing.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Arms Trade (23 Nov 2017)

Simon Coveney: I am extremely concerned about the situation in Yemen, the suffering of civilians there, and the humanitarian crisis which the war has triggered. Ireland has raised with Saudi Arabia on numerous occasions its concerns about the situation in Yemen. In November 2016, my predecessor, Minister Flanagan, raised concerns about the appalling humanitarian situation in Yemen, and about attacks which...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Brexit Expenditure (23 Nov 2017)

Simon Coveney: My Department has not incurred any expenditure on social media campaigns on issues related to Brexit.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: European Council Meetings (23 Nov 2017)

Simon Coveney: At the General Affairs Council (Article 50) on Monday 20 November, the EU’s Chief Negotiator, Michel Barnier, provided an update to the EU27 Member States on the state of play with regard to the EU-UK negotiations. This provided an important opportunity to take stock of progress in light of the forthcoming decision by the European Council in December on whether or not sufficient...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Northern Ireland (23 Nov 2017)

Simon Coveney: As a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, the Government remains committed to doing everything necessary to support and facilitate the parties in Northern Ireland to achieve the effective operation of the devolved institutions. However, devolved power-sharing government can only operate on the basis of an agreement reached between the two largest parties. The other parties...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Brexit Documents (22 Nov 2017)

Simon Coveney: I am not going to comment on the detail of internal EU working documents tabled in Brussels. However, both the EU and Ireland have been clear about the current state of play on negotiations on the priority exit issues, including the Irish issues. There is nothing new emerging about EU positions on Ireland and Northern Ireland; the principles set out in the EU Guidelines for the...