Results 45,321-45,340 of 46,575 for speaker:Simon Harris

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 May 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Burke for raising this issue and for vocalising very strongly the absolute frustration of his constituents in and around Blackpool. I know this has been going on for an extraordinarily long period of time. The Deputy is of course correct that on 17 April the OPW submitted the final supplementary information and those updated environmental surveys he referenced to the Minister...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 May 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Guirke. I will ask the Minister for housing and the Minister of State with responsibility for planning to give consideration to the point he makes about the role of section 5 and the appropriate use of it in the context of what he has outlined. I would like to make two points on IPAS and migration accommodation. First, there has been too much discussion only on...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 May 2025)

Simon Harris: That is, of course, not our policy. I thank the Deputy for raising issues in relation to Belmullet, the Belmont Hotel in Knock and St. Mary's school in Ballina. I will ask the Minister for Justice and the Minister of State for migration to come back to the Deputy on that. Broadly, on the issue of communications around migration, we need to do more. We recently discussed this very issue at...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 May 2025)

Simon Harris: Sorry, that is a fair question. In relation to the issue of planning, I am truthfully not sure in relation to that but I will get an answer to the Deputy directly.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 May 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Ó Murchú. While I am not aware of the specific details, I join the Deputy in sending my best wishes to that member of An Garda Síochána. As the Deputy says, all of these incidents are harsh and real reminders of the dangers that gardaí face when they put themselves in harm's way to keep the rest of us safe. I am very grateful to all members of An...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 May 2025)

Simon Harris: Absolutely.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (8 May 2025)

Simon Harris: I would be delighted to do so.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (8 May 2025)

Simon Harris: I agree with the Deputy about recruitment and retention. We can have all the investment plans, and we need to in the Defence Forces, but the men and women in the Defence Forces constitute its most important resource. Given that this is a country with full employment and very skilled individuals work in the Defence Forces, how we recruit in the first instance and then crucially retain them...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (8 May 2025)

Simon Harris: We are not.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (8 May 2025)

Simon Harris: I was not talking about fighter jets but was asked about a question about them at an Army barracks. I said I want to get to level of ambition, LAO, 3, which talks about that degree of air cover. We need a better understanding of what happens and the capabilities in our skies and seas. The Deputy is right that the key to being able to activate any of this is having the personnel to operate...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (8 May 2025)

Simon Harris: That is correct.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (8 May 2025)

Simon Harris: Let me be clear that I do not rule out what he has suggested. I am not in any way naive. While I can point to figures that show marginal improvements in the numbers of Defence Forces personnel, I am also aware we are nowhere near the established numbers we need. That marginal improvement provides a degree of false comfort in some of the specialties where we need to continue to recruit and,...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (8 May 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. When we look back at the Commission on the Defence Forces and everything else, radar and sonar are two key areas on which we must move. The Deputy and I can largely agree on that point. These are no-brainers. We must have a better understanding of what happens in our skies and seas. We need that capability. It is a key priority for me to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (8 May 2025)

Simon Harris: I fully agree with the Deputy. I like, and will cog, the phrase "positive neutrality". That is what we should be talking about. I certainly have no plans to change Ireland's military neutrality. There is an overwhelming consensus in this House and significant support across the country for military neutrality. We should be proud of our neutrality. It is not just a cornerstone of our...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (8 May 2025)

Simon Harris: We certainly do not and there is no proposal to join NATO or anything like it. I value military neutrality. Understanding and debating what it means, though, is very useful. It means being militarily unaligned but one can be militarily unaligned and still take national security and defence seriously. I accept there are very different views in the House on the terms, conditions and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Military Neutrality (8 May 2025)

Simon Harris: Are the Deputies happy to do them in this order?

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Military Neutrality (8 May 2025)

Simon Harris: So we will do this and come back. Is that okay?

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Military Neutrality (8 May 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputies Gibney and Ó Laoghaire for raising this important question. I accept we approach this from very different points of view. I do not doubt the Deputies' bona fides on this and ask that they do not doubt mine. I value military neutrality. I am not proposing Ireland joins any military alliances; I am proposing that the triple lock in its current form poses challenges and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Military Neutrality (8 May 2025)

Simon Harris: Can I ask a question back? Does the Deputy accept there are countries in the world which are absolutely neutral militarily and there is no question of it, and which do not deploy a triple lock mechanism for their decisions around peacekeeping? I genuinely do not believe the issues should be conflated. There are a number of examples. The European Union peace operation in the former...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Military Neutrality (8 May 2025)

Simon Harris: We are not doing that. Any missions we participate in will have to be in line with the values of the UN Charter. In fairness to everybody in this House, we are having this debate before we all have a chance to scrutinise the legislation, and I accept that reality. I am looking forward to getting to tease it out line by line so we can all understand what we are being asked or not asked to do.