Results 43,341-43,360 of 46,575 for speaker:Simon Harris

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 May 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Whitmore very much for raising this important issue for Bray and, as she quite rightly said, the wider catchment area it serves. Neurological rehabilitation services are vital, and we need more of them. We need them in communities. It is an important part of the National Rehabilitation Hospital, NRH, jigsaw as well. I will certainly speak with the Minister for Health and...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 May 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Healy-Rae for raising this issue. I echo his kind words for the staff in the Passport Office. They work extremely hard, and it is a very busy time of the year. The suggestions and observations the Deputy made are definitely worthy of consideration. I will pass them on to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (21 May 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Costello for raising this important issue for his community and that organisation. I will certainly ask the relevant Ministers to see how the Government and other agencies might be in a position to support them.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (21 May 2024)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 7, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on migration, integration and Ukraine was established on 9 April to oversee the development and delivery of a whole-of-government response to the system of international and temporary protection for those arriving in Ireland from abroad, including international and domestic policy options, accommodation...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (21 May 2024)

Simon Harris: I will try to respond to some of those issues. Objectively and fairly, the Government has been responding in real time to a migration system that moved from one that was used to seeing about 3,000 to 4,000 people per year to one that, between international protection applicants and people from Ukraine, saw around 143,000 people over a period of time. The Government has taken a number of...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (21 May 2024)

Simon Harris: I will have to get the details as regards that.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (21 May 2024)

Simon Harris: Sorry. The Deputy has given me the figure for the number rescinded. I will have to get the details as to why they were, which is an appropriate thing to do. This matter is quite a long way from the questions that were asked, so I do not have the information to hand, but the Minister for Justice of the day, whoever he or she is, has a role to play in the migration process and can make...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Policies (21 May 2024)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 to 14, inclusive, together. Ireland’s well-being framework is a programme for Government initiative to measure progress and policy impact in Ireland in a more holistic way. The framework was launched in 2021. We are now focused on embedding this approach into the Irish policy-making system. The framework consists of 11 dimensions which are...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Policies (21 May 2024)

Simon Harris: There were a variety of issues and I thank the Deputies. I would be pleased to meet Deputy Ó Cathasaigh on his legislation and to discuss the 11th dimension that he believes is needed in the context of the dashboard around the culture and language. I agree. that the purpose here is, to use the Deputy's words "to stitch" the well-being framework to our budgetary process. I would be...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Policies (21 May 2024)

Simon Harris: This is a local authority. I take the point. That should be taken into consideration before people are housed. I would have thought that it was, although that is not to comment on the specifics of this case. As I travel throughout the country, I visit many towns that are becoming autism-friendly towns. I am delighted to hear about Ballina and Castlebar from Deputy Conway-Walsh. The...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (21 May 2024)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 15 to 24, inclusive, together. Transport-related issues can arise in a number of different Cabinet committees, given their relevance to multiple policy areas. Climate action is one and economic growth is another, as is the provision of housing, regional development and the like. For example, the Cabinet committee on the environment and climate change...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (21 May 2024)

Simon Harris: That is very good.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (21 May 2024)

Simon Harris: I am new to Taoiseach's questions but we have come a long way from asking when the Cabinet committee will next meet. We will do our best. I thank colleagues for raising a variety of very important issues. I will take a moment on the very important issue Deputy Kenny raised about data sharing between the RSA and the local authorities and when that issue will be resolved. The RSA is...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 May 2024)

Simon Harris: There are a couple of different aspects here, namely the Housing Commission report, to which the Deputy referred, and rental supports. Today, the Government will publish the Housing Commission report. In an effort to be helpful to the House and to inform debate on this, the Minister will also publish alongside it an initial assessment of where we are at with a number of the actions. This...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 May 2024)

Simon Harris: Deputy Ó Broin should be very careful telling me what he does not do because I have the information here. Just to be clear on this, Sinn Féin has asked us to spend more than €10 billion on these supports. If you want to know why, it is because in an emergency while ramping up housing supply, we have to do something in the here and now. You say landlords; I say renters....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 May 2024)

Simon Harris: That is a great line, but unfortunately the graph shows that you are wrong. Look at the increase in social housing building since my party came to office. You are, yet again, wrong.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 May 2024)

Simon Harris: If a contest in fluency and verbosity was an Olympic sport, you would win a gold medal, but it does not build houses. We are not afraid to take more radical steps when it comes to housing. That is why we asked the Housing Commission to come up with ideas. How do you build a sustainable model that does not have boom and bust, with ghost estates one year and no housing supply the next? That...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 May 2024)

Simon Harris: The Simon Communities said it must increase as well.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 May 2024)

Simon Harris: Let me tell you this. It is 153 days since Deputy Mary Lou McDonald told the people of this country that she would provide homes for €300,000 in Dublin. I ask the same question that I ask every day: how? Please tell us.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (22 May 2024)

Simon Harris: How?