Results 45,721-45,740 of 46,575 for speaker:Simon Harris

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Middle East (29 May 2025)

Simon Harris: Deputy Murphy is right. That was an option. It could be amended line by line or section by section. Our view was that bringing forward a new Bill was a better way of doing it. I am open to persuasion on the issue of services. It is not a persuasion that needs to be done from a policy point. Rather, I am open to persuasion as to whether it would work in this Bill. I am not afraid of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Ukraine War (29 May 2025)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 172 and 173 together. I thank Deputy Lahart. I am committed, as is the rest of the Government, to working with our European and Ukrainian counterparts to maintain our solidarity with Ukraine and to ensure Ukraine gets the support it needs to defend itself against brutal Russian aggression. This remains a key focus of my engagements, both bilaterally and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Ukraine War (29 May 2025)

Simon Harris: To start with the Deputy's last point, that is a huge concern because, in fairness to President Trump, he has been very clear that he wants the war to end. He wants peace and the President of the European Commission, President von der Leyen, has welcomed some of the interventions President Trump has made in that regard. There has been significant dialogue between a number of senior European...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Trade Agreements (29 May 2025)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 174 and 176 together. I thank Deputy Ó Murchú. His party is working him hard today. I assure him that my officials and I remain in ongoing and close contact with a number of like-minded countries, including France, which the Deputy referenced in the question, on our opposition to the current EU-Mercosur trade deal. Indeed, as I stated in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Trade Agreements (29 May 2025)

Simon Harris: I had a significant one-on-one meeting with my French counterpart specifically about Mercosur. Our links and engagement with France on this remain intense and ongoing. Our position within the European Commission is very well understood. I do not think other member states would be in any way surprised by Ireland's position. What happens next is important. At the moment, the agreement is...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Trade Agreements (29 May 2025)

Simon Harris: I will say more on CETA another time when we can have a proper debate. If we cannot ratify a free trade agreement with Canada in the middle of all the turbulence that is going on in the world, I am concerned. I cannot think of a better, less offensive nation to trade with and have a trade agreement with than Canada. Let us have that debate when the time comes. It is for another day. The...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Dublin-Monaghan Bombings (29 May 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and for consistently keeping it on the agenda in his time in the House. It is important that is done. Earlier this month, as he noted, we marked the 51st anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 17 May 1974. Those brutal attacks claimed the lives of 34 people, including an unborn baby, injured hundreds more and shocked the country to its...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Dublin-Monaghan Bombings (29 May 2025)

Simon Harris: I agree with everything the Deputy said on this matter. I fully acknowledge that very country has a right, even an obligation, in regard to its national security. However, that cannot become a cover for not providing assistance that could and should be provided. This House and successive Governments have constructively put forward proposals as to how that access to information could be...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Dublin-Monaghan Bombings (29 May 2025)

Simon Harris: I do not have specific insights into provisional findings from Operation Denton. I know it is hoped the report will appear in the coming months. We all hope this provides families and survivors with much-needed answers. I will continue to make the point, as will the Minister for Justice, regarding the importance of this information being provided and, more broadly, the issue of legacy....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Northern Ireland (29 May 2025)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 177 and 243 together. I met with Sean Brown's family just over two weeks ago on what was the 28th anniversary of his murder. I was struck by Bridie Brown and her family and the anguish, pain and hurt they have been put through. The family have shown enormous strength and resilience in pursuing this case. I commended them on their tireless campaign for...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Northern Ireland (29 May 2025)

Simon Harris: I join the Deputies in commending Bellaghy GAA and the GAA more widely. The president of the GAA, Jarlath Burns, attended the meeting with the Brown family when they came to see me. Sean Brown was a good, decent man locking up his GAA club when he was brutally murdered 28 years ago. Not only have no answers been given to his family and no Article 2-compliant investigation established,...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Anti-Racism Measures (28 May 2025)

Simon Harris: I would emphasise that the IHRA Definition is a non-legally binding guidance tool, intended to support the IHRA and its Member States in the important work of addressing contemporary challenges related to the Holocaust, including the growing rise in antisemitism which it is important to condemn and take action on. Neither the definition nor its illustrative examples are intended to...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Anti-Racism Measures (28 May 2025)

Simon Harris: The decision to endorse the IHRA non legally binding working definition of antisemitism was taken to meet commitments under the European Commission Strategy for Fostering Jewish Life, as well as related EU Council Conclusions and Council Declarations. As Ireland was among the later EU Member States to endorse the IHRA definition of antisemitism, various international organizations raised...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: International Relations (28 May 2025)

Simon Harris: Ireland has recognised and had diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran since its establishment in 1979. Ireland and Iran maintain resident embassies in each other’s capitals. Diplomatic recognition of a state does not imply or connote any judgement or assessment of its system of government, values or the policies of its government. As frequently discussed in the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: International Relations (28 May 2025)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 7 and 10 together. I am deeply concerned by the continued and widespread use of the death penalty and arbitrary detention in Iran. Iran has significantly increased its executions in recent years, and now reportedly carries out more than half of all the executions in the world outside China. Accordingly, the death penalty and arbitrary detention are a...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: International Relations (28 May 2025)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 11 together. The issues of Iran’s support for militant groups around the Middle East region, and its support for Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, are among the most pressing of the many concerns which Ireland and our EU partners have with Iran’s actions and policies. As frequently discussed in the Oireachtas, these concerns...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Diplomatic Representation (29 May 2025)

Simon Harris: Ireland, along with our EU partners, adheres to the One China Policy. This means that we do not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan and that we recognize the People's Republic of China as the legal representative of China. This does not preclude the development of economic, cultural, and people-to-people connections with Taiwan; nor the meaningful participation of Taiwan in relevant...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Trade Relations (29 May 2025)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 178, 235 and 236 together. As a small, highly globalised economy, it is of the utmost importance that we maintain a strategic focus on the international trading environment. The Government Trade Forum plays an important role facilitating direct engagement between Government Ministers and key stakeholders and experts as we shape the national,...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights (29 May 2025)

Simon Harris: Ireland has consistently and strongly advocated for the promotion and protection of the rights of LGBTQ+ people, including in our relations with Hungary. We have regularly raised our concerns about serious Rule of Law backsliding and the targeting of civil society and minority rights in Hungary, including in direct contacts with our Hungarian interlocutors. Through my Department’s...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Human Rights (29 May 2025)

Simon Harris: I am deeply concerned by the continued and wide spread use of the death penalty in Iran. Iran has significantly increased its executions in recent years, and now reportedly carries out more than half of all the executions in the world outside China. Accordingly, the death penalty is a principal focus of Ireland's engagement with Iran on human rights issues. Ireland is strongly opposed to the...