Results 5,021-5,040 of 46,267 for speaker:Simon Harris

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: I know this is an area Deputy Brady has an active interest in. I would say, as he said, that Mr. Ultan Courtney was engaged by the Local Government Management Agency, LGMA, at, I think, the behest of SIPTU. There were many facilitation discussions and I am told good progress was made, including progress on the provision of a revised model of retained fire service delivery that would provide...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: I encourage all parties to get back into a room and to continue to engage constructively on resolving the outstanding industrial relations issues.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy MacSharry for his passionate contribution. I know he is a passionate advocate for the west. We have worked together to try to deliver real projects for Sligo and the north west, particularly regarding education. I will have to seek clarity for the Deputy about the N17. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Ryan, to revert directly to Deputy MacSharry.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: I will revert directly to Deputy MacSharry. I would be delighted to.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Cahill for raising this. I know he raised it in recent weeks. I will ask the line Minister to directly respond to him, or perhaps both the Minister for Finance and the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications. At a broad level, of course it is important that there is a level playing field and that any business activity in our country is tax compliant and...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Conway-Walsh. I will pass her views on to the Minister for Health. We have provided an additional €15 million to oral health care services this year. I take the point about needing people in place to deliver the service. On workforce capacity, I am informed that we live in a country with more registered dentists than ever before, at 3,472 as of March 2023, which is...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne for raising this important issue. Homelessness is a major issue that we are all working to challenge. Child homelessness is an issue that we all want to see real progress on. I will ask the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to respond directly to the Deputy on that legislation but I assure her that every resource that is required to help ensure that we address...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: I am very excited about the research Bill. It is a chance to get a stand-alone piece of research legislation right. Yesterday I announced that we will have a research advisory forum so we can hear directly from the community and from researchers to make sure we get it right. The Deputy is entirely correct. The establishment of five technological universities has been a big achievement for...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: I hope the Deputy had the good sense to tell that gentleman, her constituent, that she did not think he deserved a lump sum fuel allowance payment of €400 before Christmas. I hope she passed that on to him and if not, if he is watching, he might know that now.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: There are people really struggling in this country and unfortunately, the Deputy's party got this one badly wrong. It criticised Ministers for doing dossiers recently. It would be no harm if Sinn Féin did a bit of preparation before it came up with its policies.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Higgins for raising this very important issue and for engaging with me on an ongoing basis on it. The short answer is "Yes". We can expect that. The pilot has gone very well. We do not want to end up as one of those countries that has more pilots than an airline. When something actually works we should embed it and roll it out. We now provide these free period products...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: The Deputy will certainly have it. I ask him to arrange for some people from that community to come to see me and we can talk about this. In both Cherry Orchard and Drogheda, we have really good models that are working. The challenge for the Government is to embed those models across the country. We intend to do that as part of the community safety partnership. I would be very happy to...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: I fully agree that the Garda Reserve has an important role to play in supplementing Garda visibility in our communities. We want to get to at least 15,000 gardaí and we want to grow those numbers even further. The benefit of having another layer of people who can support communities is clear for all to see. The first priority was to open the new garda recruitment campaign. Almost...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Bacik. We consider all proposals and I look forward to debating that legislation. In relation to the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond's meeting, I note that two major retailers dropped the price of bread on the day the meeting was called. I do not think that was coincidental. We do not apologise for the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, and others having an...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: I note the significance of the WRC finding. I will certainly follow up with the Taoiseach in relation to the conversation the Deputy is relaying he had with Debenhams workers. I know from one of my briefs about the difficult time they have been going through. We have been trying to provide opportunities for skills, education and other job opportunities. We will reflect on the WRC position...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: My understanding is that Mr. Ultan Courtney was engaged by the LGMA at the behest of SIPTU to chair discussions. I also understand that a lot of progress was made during those discussions but, regrettably, it was not possible to reach a positive conclusion to the satisfaction of all parties. The Government would absolutely encourage all parties to continue to engage. Let us keep engaging...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: Without commenting on the individual case, issues regarding redundancy are set out through both contract law and, as the Deputy referenced, the industrial relations mechanism that is in place. It is not for the Government to intervene here, as there are clear industrial relations mechanisms in place.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: I can assure the Deputy that the Government's intention was not that. The Government's intention was to identify any potential accommodation that was available and, in the first instance, any accommodation that was available quickly. The Deputy and I understand why that was done in terms of responding in an emergency. As we move into a more sustained phase and need to move from the initial...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Griffin for raising this issue and echoing and amplifying the frustration of his constituents in relation to this. At a time when we are trying to support and sustain the rental market, encourage landlords to stay in the market and help people who are renting, it is important that the RTB can function efficiently for anyone who tries to contact it. I will pass on the Deputy's...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: I absolutely will not. The Deputy can have a go at and slur the Government, if he wants, but when he talks about the HSE, he is talking about hundreds of thousands people working every day. The HSE is nurses, doctors, healthcare assistants and people who get up and work bloody hard to try to run our health service. Thus, I do not agree with cheap-shot political lines at all. I will agree,...