Results 43,061-43,080 of 46,575 for speaker:Simon Harris

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Chief State Solicitor's Office (Revised) (24 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: I would have to look into the weather in 1955.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Chief State Solicitor's Office (Revised) (24 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: Yes, I will do that and I thank the committee for the serious points made. I just want to respond to the point made on migration, the rule of law, gardaí and the likes. It is a serious point and all political parties in this House have been standing by the law and the gardaí in relation to their job. I accept that gardaí have a very difficult job to do and I accept that they...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Chief State Solicitor's Office (Revised) (24 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: No, it is not acceptable. There are serious questions to answer as to how this was allowed to happen. I do not say that to be overly critical but the fact is it is not acceptable. There are rules that need to be followed in every circumstance, even in an emergency. We must have a rules-based migration system. We have to be able to do better than allowing the situation that has happened...

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Chief State Solicitor's Office (Revised) (24 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: I do not believe I have conducted Government business through social media apps.

Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 1 - President's Establishment (Revised)
Vote 2 - Department of the Taoiseach (Revised)
Vote 3 - Office of the Attorney General (Revised)
Vote 5 - Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised)
Vote 6 - Chief State Solicitor's Office (Revised) (24 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: I believe I have more than five. A number of them were there with the previous Taoiseach, and are still there, who are very much policy advisers. There are also people who have worked with me in previous roles on the policy side as opposed to the press side. There is therefore a combination of skills mix.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: First, I agree with the Deputy's comments about this being a welcoming country and about there being no room for racism in the country. It is important that we live in a country where the leader of the Government and the leader of the Opposition can come together in our national Parliament and say that. That is important, and I welcome that. However, let me say this: there is no confusion...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: What I am very well aware of is not allowing this country to become a pawn in any politics in the United Kingdom. I hope that is something that the Deputy and I can agree on because as political leaders in this Parliament, I hope the Deputy will also agree that we have every right to set our own migration policy, we have every right and obligation to make sure that migration policy is...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: I am very clear that those operational agreements are in place under the common travel area and I am very clear that we are going to legislate so that we will have absolute clarity so it can work. I am also really clear that it is only one of a number of things that we need to do. The more significant thing that has been done in recent weeks is not the legislation today but the faster...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for the question. First, we have data and we gather data relating to the International Protection Office. While I am not suggesting the Deputy is, we cannot ignore the reality of the island that we live on and the peace settlement that we have on this island. So, we do not count the number of people who come over the Border by nationality or anything else; we know that.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: Deputy Howlin knows this well too. As I imagine Deputy Bacik knows, when people present at the International Protection Office, very experienced staff, who have done incredible work in a very intense environment, carry out interviews and the likes, and garner, not anecdotes, but data and information on how people have come to our country. They are telling Government and we are telling the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: Now let us discuss how we can address those issues. Let us discuss how the PSNI and An Garda Síochána can work more closely. Let us discuss how we can work to protect the common travel area from abuse. Let us work to see how we can - I welcome the Deputy's comments - work at an EU level because I do not believe we can go it alone. We may differ on some of the detail of the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: That is a really important thing to do. The people on Mount Street and people in Deputy Bacik's constituency would believe that is an important thing to do. Regarding the legislation the Minister for Justice intends to bring forward, she today received permission to draft that. The Minister intends to enact legislation by the end of this month. In that legislation she will outline how...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: I do not think it is objectively fair to say the Government has failed on accommodation. I do not think there is a community across Ireland who believes that. If you look at the scale of challenge this country has faced and the amount we have done as a people to provide accommodation in very difficult circumstances, that needs to be acknowledged. There are no easy solutions when it comes...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: -----but they also want to know that there is a functioning rules-based system as there is and on which the Minister, Deputy McEntee, has taken a number of measures to make more effective. Regarding the data issue, I am very confident that the information that has been provided to the Government on processing times is exactly what people are seeing in the International Protection Office....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: -----entered over-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: Pardon me?

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: I speak for the Government of which the Tánaiste is a part and I am very confident in saying that the Tánaiste, I as Taoiseach and all members and parties of the Government are very clear on this. The Tánaiste made a valid point yesterday that does not contradict the Minister, Deputy McEntee's point at all.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Lowry for raising this important issue. Let us begin on a point of absolute agreement. The Government does not wish in any way to see any rural area, or indeed any area of Ireland, least of all in County Tipperary, lose connectivity. That is the exact opposite of what we have been working to achieve and making good progress on over recent years with the national broadband...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Lowry again for raising this issue. The Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, has been here to hear his comments directly, and he and the Minister, Deputy Ryan, will continue to keep Deputy Lowry updated on this. As I said, I cannot comment on an individual company, for obvious reasons. There is a regulatory process and engagement with the Department and ComReg. As Taoiseach,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (30 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Pringle for raising what he is right to say is an extraordinarily serious issue. Listening to his final words is a reminder of all of the progress we have been beginning to make as a society in destigmatising some issues and promoting equality. The risk of that being undone or damaged by dangerous online use of social media is pertinent. I met the DCU anti-bullying centre in...