Results 3,501-3,520 of 46,260 for speaker:Simon Harris

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: It would be lovely to answer it. The Government is absolutely bound by the targets and is working to achieve them. Do I accept the targets are extraordinarily challenging? I do but I am pointing out that in this House it has been said, for example, that farming will never reach its targets. This is not true. We are seeing emissions from farming and agriculture drop. We are seeing...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy. I hope she is asking a question to which she knows the answer is that we are not dragging our heels. The commitment we have given to the people of Wexford, to the Deputy and to the people of the south east is real. It is very real because we have invested an awful lot of money in it already. To be absolutely crystal clear, it is our intention to develop a...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I am a firm believer that having access to a university in your county and community makes a real difference. I met a number of the students at the Wexford campus. Similarly to the Deputy, they told me that they could not have accessed third level education were it not for the provision of a campus in Wexford. We must now ask what more we can do in Wexford and what the benefits would be in...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: What we will do for Kylie Ann, children right across the country, parents and families is get this back on track. We saw the progress that could be made in 2017. We saw the fall in wait times, the extra children getting their services and the Ombudsman for Children's report welcoming some of that. We now have an extra €19 million. There are additional staff. I am very clear on...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: Hang on a second. I am not planning on doing that at all, to be honest.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: With respect, as Deputy Cairns said in a reminder to the House yesterday, "Show me your budget and I will tell you your priorities". I have here Sinn Féin's alternative budget. I ask the Deputy to direct me to the page that references scoliosis, spinal surgeries or any additional funding. This Government is absolutely determined to deliver for these children. It is working night and...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Cairns for raising this important issue. I will begin by paying tribute to my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Malcolm Noonan, for the leadership he has shown within Government throughout this process. This deserves to be commended. Yesterday was a significant day. The Deputy rightly acknowledged that Government MEPs voted in favour of the nature restoration law in...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I join with the Deputy in acknowledging the ruling from the High Court in Belfast issued earlier today by Mr. Justice Colton. It is a long ruling of approximately 200 pages but it seems positive from the perspective of the Irish Government, which wants to work to ensure that all families get justice, which is what they deserve. Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs are in close...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Research and Innovation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I move amendment No. 1: In page 5, after line 29, to insert the following: " "appeals board" has the meaning assigned to it by section 44(1);". These amendments are largely either technical or clarifying in terms of the policy intent. The committee will recall that the legislation has an appeals provision whereby the CEO and the agency would require the recipient to return some or all...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Research and Innovation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I move amendment No. 2: In page 8, line 27, after "the" where it firstly occurs to insert "official". I can take people through these very individually but it would not be a good use of time.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Research and Innovation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: These amendments that have been grouped together are very minor technical amendments that serve either to give a greater clarity to the policy intention of a certain section, to better anchor the provision in a section or make reference to other relevant sections in the Bill. They are all technical. For example, amendment No. 2 proposes inserting the word "the". I propose these amendments...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Research and Innovation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Farrell for the amendments and I understand the intention. Let me share my thoughts on this on Committee Stage. No doubt it may be something Deputy Farrell wants to return to later in the legislative process. I understand the intention of amendment No. 4 in making specific reference to elements that might seem to need highlighting, and the Deputy has outlined why she...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Research and Innovation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I accept Deputy Farrell's bona fides on this and where she is coming from. In many ways, when we started with the heads of the Bill, which we published and brought to Government, we had a more prescriptive approach to some of this in terms of definitions and the like. By teasing through it - and I credit my officials for this - we ended up acknowledging that what we published was not the...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Research and Innovation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy and acknowledge the weight and respect I attach to his contribution as a former Minister of State in this area, and the knowledge and perspective he brings to it. I am conscious of that, and I thank him for the issues he raised on Second Stage, which I tried to address in my correspondence. It got to him, slightly belatedly, today in advance of Committee Stage. Before I...

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Research and Innovation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I am sorry. I should have said that amendment No. 10 is in Deputy Farrell's name.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Research and Innovation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: Is there a voting block for postponed divisions?

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Research and Innovation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I move amendment No. 8: In page 10, to delete lines 15 to 17 and substitute the following: “(j) promote the undertaking in the State of research and innovation that is funded (wholly or partly) by an international or European Union body, institution or organisation and, where so funded, to promote the success of such research and innovation,”.

Select Committee on Education and Skills: Research and Innovation Bill 2024: Committee Stage (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I move amendment No. 12: In page 11, line 15, after “applications” to insert “or investigating whether recipients of funding are in compliance with conditions of funding”. These amendments are broadly related to ensuring clarity of a provision within a section or provide better alignment between provisions within the Bill by referencing or anchoring these more...