Results 44,141-44,160 of 46,575 for speaker:Simon Harris

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy McGrath for his passionate belief in a service that clearly is making a positive impact in his community. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, informs me that Tusla and the Department are engaging and talking on this. I will make the case to them that the Deputy has made here and see if we can make progress on the issue.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: The Deputy is entirely right to call out the scare tactics that are applied in relation to farmers and agriculture. It is going on for far too long. Farmers have mental health, well-being and a livelihood. They have a family. They have a mortgage to pay, like everybody else in this country. People in this House speak about farmers in a way they would not speak about any other sector of...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Smith for raising this case. I would be happy to take the details from the Deputy and to talk further to the Minister for Education. I know the Minister, Deputy Foley, is conscious of these issues and gets the importance of them. We do need a system that is grounded in common-sense flexibility. I know the Minister shares that view. I am happy to take the details from the...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: The party leaders, including the Deputy's own colleague, the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, had a briefing on this matter with the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government yesterday. It is at a very advanced stage. It is something I would certainly like to see happen in the lifetime of this Government. I believe it is possible. It is obviously a collective decision and there is a...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Kerrane for raising the issue. I know all too well the importance of advanced paramedic cover. The Deputy is quite right to highlight the difference between it and more regular paramedic cover. I would be interested and will inquire with the Minister for Health as to what is behind that fall-off in numbers. I will talk to the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly and revert to...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue for fishermen and the fishing communities he represents. I will certainly talk to the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, about this issue and, if the Minister believes it appropriate, am very happy to assist in raising and escalating this at European level.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Griffin for raising this issue and I look forward to discussing it further in Killarney in the next couple of days. My understanding is technical advisers were appointed for the scheme in April 2020. I have been told that the Department of Transport has advised that TII can provide the money required to Kerry County Council to progress the route option selection phase. A...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: To Deputy Healy-Rae, I will ask the Minister for Health to come back to him in respect of the ophthalmology unit in Tralee and the timeline for its reopening and to get him some details on that.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (22 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: I will get the Minister for Health to revert to the Deputy directly on the issue. I thank Deputy Flaherty for highlighting what sounds like an extraordinarily difficult and traumatic situation for Jacob and his family. I will speak to the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, about that. I know there was some funding in the budget to try to have better joined-up approaches between CDNTs and...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Policies (22 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 4, 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 consists of 11 dimensions which reflect different aspects of well-being. It is supported by a dashboard hosted by the Central Statistics Office, CSO, and made up of 35...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Policies (22 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: "Yes" is the answer to Deputy Barry. I absolutely agree that Uisce Éireann should accede to that request for a face-to-face meeting. I have written to the chief executive on behalf of the Deputy's constituents following his representations in the House last week where he showed the Dáil the horrific situation his constituents are experiencing with water quality. I have written...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (22 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: These questions get more interesting the closer you get to the end of this Dáil. I propose to take Questions Nos. 5 to 10, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on the economy and investment was re-established by the Government on 10 April and most recently met on 1 July. The next meeting of the Cabinet committee has not yet been scheduled. The membership of the committee...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (22 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: Regarding Deputy Barry's point about bus services, the commitments given by Minister for Transport yesterday were given in good faith after his engagement with Bus Éireann on these matters. I will continue to keep a close eye on this. I hope to be back in this House too. If we are, I am sure both of us will continue to monitor this issue and no doubt, Deputy Barry will continue to...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (22 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 11 to 15, inclusive, together. I welcomed the UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, to Farmleigh House on 7 September. His visit to Dublin followed our meeting in Chequers on 17 July, when we resolved to have a reset of the Irish-British relationship. At Farmleigh, we agreed to take forward strategic co-operation across four pillars, which we set out in the...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (22 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: While I remember it, I will start with the Deputy's point about the hub, which is a good idea. I am very eager to engage, and to have our counterparts here engage, with Ministers Murphy and Archibald on it. If that has not happened, I will ask that it does. It is a sensible suggestion that the Deputy has made. He also referenced the case of Sean Brown. I will say, on the record of the...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Staff (22 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: The Shared Island Unit in the Department of the Taoiseach continues to prioritise and progress the Shared Island Initiative, working with all communities and political traditions to build a shared future on this island, underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement. The Unit comes under the management of the Assistant Secretary for the British and Northern Ireland Affairs Division. The current...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Social Enterprise Sector (22 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: The Department of the Taoiseach has not funded any social enterprise organisations or bodies in the years from 2021 to date in 2024.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Office of Director of Public Prosecutions (22 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: From 2015 to 2025, there has been an increase of 90% in the Voted allocation for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. The below table details the net annual funding provided for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in each year from 2015–2025: YEAR €’000s 2015 37,834 2016 ...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Properties (22 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: The Department of the Taoiseach does not own any properties. Accommodation used by the Department is provided and managed by the Office of Public Works and is fully utilised.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (23 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy McDonald for raising important issues in our health service and recruitment into our health service. Of course, the reason we talk about numbers of people working in our health service is because we all want to see improved patient outcomes and improved patient wait times. I will dwell on that in a moment. A bit of context that is important when we are discussing health...