Results 2,581-2,600 of 46,232 for speaker:Simon Harris

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Jun 2024)

Simon Harris: Deputy Andrews makes a very fair point. As he has said, investment in football creates a football industry and has a wider benefit for young people. I am very proud of some of the decisions we have made around serious investment in sports facilities. We will have the largest ever sports capital grants, €250 million, in September or October. There is also some large-scale capital...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Jun 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Durkan for raising this important matter. The best way forward on this is through the Judicial Council, which has now been established and provides a structure for issues such as sentencing guidelines. Some analysis and research will be carried out. The Deputy is quite right that the administration of justice in Ireland will greatly benefit from it.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Jun 2024)

Simon Harris: Sure.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Jun 2024)

Simon Harris: The Government has not made a decision yet on the timing of that referendum. I know the issues of patents and joining a unified patent court are important. The Government will give consideration to that in due course.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Jun 2024)

Simon Harris: I join Deputy McDonald in expressing sympathy on the sad and shocking news of Tommie Gorman's passing. As she rightly said, there will be time to pay more wholesome tributes in due course. I met Tommie in recent weeks at Sligo Rovers, his beloved football club, and at the European Movement Ireland event that the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, was at. Tommie made an incredible contribution not...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Jun 2024)

Simon Harris: I note the High Court judgment. SIPO is an independent body established by the Standards in Public Office Act 2001. How it proceeds in respect of any individual matter is a matter for the commission. It is important that the commission is independent of Government and the Oireachtas. It will need to respond to the findings of the High Court in the context of how it wishes to proceed....

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Jun 2024)

Simon Harris: No member of my parliamentary party has a conviction for domestic, sexual or gender-based violence. If they did, they would not be in it. The Defence Forces need to adopt the same approach. I am so proud of the men and women who serve in our Defence Forces. We need to have the zero-tolerance culture embedded in everything we do. We to set up a tribunal of inquiry to investigate the...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Jun 2024)

Simon Harris: I am happy to be helpful. I said what I said not because I do not care, but because I do. We cannot have a debate in this House on an individual case where legal proceedings may not yet have concluded. It is a different matter if the House would like to have a broader debate on gender-based violence, a zero-tolerance strategy and the likes. That could be raised at a meeting of the...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Jun 2024)

Simon Harris: If it is any consolation, I often feel the Business Committee seems to be one of the most important things around here. I thank the Members who have raised a number of issues. I thank Deputy Bacik for raising the very serious issue of gender-based violence. I fully understand and comprehend that women are exhausted, fed up, angry and frustrated. Her suggestion regarding the issue of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Danny Healy-Rae. I will ask that the points the Deputy has made are fed into the consideration being given to the Minister for the updated rural housing guidelines, which are currently being prepared by the Department of housing. The draft rural housing guidelines set out the relevant planning criteria to be applied in local authority development plans for rural housing and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I very much enjoyed his tribute to Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh. The idea that listening to the match on the radio was more enjoyable than watching it on the television probably captures the essence of many people's experience and memory. Everybody or certainly most people in this House want to see a balanced approach to rural...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2024)

Simon Harris: I will do my best. First, I remind Deputy Murphy that I too am a Deputy. I have been elected by the people of Wicklow on three occasions and I am grateful for that. I do not need the media or anyone else, with the greatest respect to them, to let me know what the issues in my community are, and neither does anybody on the Government benches. The constant suggestion that those outside...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Murphy. At the outset, I want to say I am sorry for getting a bit passionate in the last answer, but I think everybody in the House is just so angered. I want to thank Deputy Cairns for raising the important issue. I thank Deputy Murphy for highlighting this issue relating to the RTB. I know she is highlighting a broader issue but if she wants to send to my office the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Cairns for quite rightly raising this issue. I also thank her for her words in relation to the Minister, Deputy McGrath - who I join her in congratulating - and the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers. I want the Deputy to know that we do not just say, "Never again". Never have I uttered those words. What we need to do is to adopt a zero-tolerance approach in Ireland when...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2024)

Simon Harris: That is not fair.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2024)

Simon Harris: Fair point.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2024)

Simon Harris: I am absolutely furious about what has happened in this country - just to be very clear. There is nobody in this House more disgusted than anybody else. Nobody. I am not just a Taoiseach. I am a father. I am a son. I am a husband. Everybody wants to live in a country with zero tolerance, and nobody suggests zero tolerance is some sort of slogan or platitude. Zero tolerance is the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2024)

Simon Harris: There absolutely is. It is one I take very seriously. It is a responsibility I do not shirk from at all. To touch on some of the issues the Deputy raised, in the case of an enlisted member of the Defence Forces, I am told that, following a conviction where imprisonment or a suspended sentence is awarded or an appeal has been heard or not submitted, the process for discharge commences upon...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Ceann Comhairle. At his invitation, I want to begin by acknowledging the passing of Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh. It is with the heaviest of hearts that I, like people across this country, today learned of his death. The word "legend" gets used too often in Ireland but, for Mícheál, it is a word that is almost not good enough. His voice, his colour, his...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Covid-19 Pandemic (19 Jun 2024)

Simon Harris: A comprehensive evaluation of how the country managed COVID-19 will provide an opportunity to learn lessons from our experiences in dealing with a pandemic. It will include a review of the whole-of-government response to the pandemic and how we might do better and be in a stronger position if another pandemic or other similar type event were to occur. It will include a consideration of...