Results 1,721-1,740 of 45,510 for speaker:Simon Harris

Prison Development (Confirmation of Resolutions) Bill 2013: Second Stage (27 Jun 2013)

Simon Harris: I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. I will always remember, a number of years ago when I was a teenager growing up in Greystones, attending a presentation by the then Governor of Mountjoy Prison, Mr. John Lonergan. He said that if he was handed a map of Dublin city, he would be able to identify five small areas from which he was likely to see the bulk of the population of...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Schools Administration (27 Jun 2013)

Simon Harris: 107. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide clarity on voluntary fees sought by schools from parents and students in school and registration fees and re-registration fees; if such fees in public schools are compulsory; his views on these fees and recommended levels for such fees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31187/13]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Accommodation (27 Jun 2013)

Simon Harris: 126. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if officials from his Department have met representatives of a board of management of a school (details supplied) in County Wicklow regarding their concerns about the proposed location for their new school building; when this meeting took place; the outcome of the meeting; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31350/13]

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (27 Jun 2013)

Simon Harris: I thank Ms Tallon and her team for attending. I start with a relatively minor issue about which there were media reports last week. I would like to clear it up. It is about the cost to local authorities of the new reform measures. The witnesses will probably have seen in last weekend's Sunday newspapers reports that some local authorities are splurging on the purchase of new furniture,...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (27 Jun 2013)

Simon Harris: I just wanted to clear that up. I want to examine development levies, illegal dumping and the issuing of a waste permit which was subsequently shredded in Wicklow County Council before having to be reissued. I will explain the last matter in a moment. I begin with the issue of development levies. I asked a series of parliamentary questions of the Minister for the Environment, Community...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (27 Jun 2013)

Simon Harris: I acknowledge that. I acknowledge that not all of the €750 million that is owed or meant to be owed to local authorities by developers or people going about development will have materialised. What I have not been able to establish since March is whether we have an idea of how much of it did materialise? In other words, if I go to build a conservatory today and issue a commencement...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (27 Jun 2013)

Simon Harris: The Department considers that figure to be the amount owed on foot on development that has materialised.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (27 Jun 2013)

Simon Harris: In one of the statements the Department issued on 15 March 2013, it referred to bad debts and set out that when they are taken into account, the true level of outstanding development levies for 2010 was €214 million. What are the guidelines in place according to which a local authority decides whether an outstanding levy represents a bad debt? If the true figure of outstanding...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (27 Jun 2013)

Simon Harris: I will read it to Ms Tallon. This appeared on the RTE news website on Friday, 15 March. The Department of the Environment has said this evening that figures on the level of unpaid development levies that it issued to Fine Gael TD Simon Harris earlier this week do not take account of levies that local authorities have written off as bad debts. It said when bad debts are take account of the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (27 Jun 2013)

Simon Harris: I do not mean to be pedantic, but-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (27 Jun 2013)

Simon Harris: I am quite happy with that. Not to be pedantic, but all of the five figures I cited are departmental figures from the same Department. That is the cause of my frustration.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (27 Jun 2013)

Simon Harris: From my perspective, I am looking for the current amount of outstanding development levies from developments that have materialised and developments that the local authorities expect to materialise, the amount of outstanding levies that appear on paper in respect of developments that will likely never materialise, and the amount of development levies written off as bad debts. It would be a...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (27 Jun 2013)

Simon Harris: There is ongoing legal action here but it seems bizarre that councils take legal action against closed companies. The legal action is one of the longest-running High Court cases in history of the State, which is frustrating for everyone involved. There seem to be significantly different figures emerging. The figure of €50 million was provided by the county manager to councillors at...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (27 Jun 2013)

Simon Harris: What is the actual figure estimated for the cost of remediation at Whitestown?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (27 Jun 2013)

Simon Harris: I have a specific and broader question for the Secretary General. An understandable letter of comfort has been written to Wicklow County Council and, one can only presume, other county councils. To be clear, I am very supportive of the proactive approach the Department is taking to rectify the illegal dumping situation and to respond to the European Court judgment. However, on 24 June 2011...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (27 Jun 2013)

Simon Harris: It is an astonishing sum of money. Again, I want to acknowledge and put on the record of this committee the good work I believe the Department is doing in dealing with these serious issues at a European level. I will now move to an area in which I do not feel it is doing as good a job, which is, again, an issue I was directly involved with during my time on Wicklow County Council and which...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (27 Jun 2013)

Simon Harris: I am sure that is the case, and that is fine. However, the situation is that the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government knows of this request from Wicklow County Council. It acknowledged the request which came from a senior level. I cannot remember the exact signature on the letter, but the acknowledgement came from a pretty senior level in the Department....

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (27 Jun 2013)

Simon Harris: I have never corresponded directly with the EPA on this issue, but in conversations with others and correspondence I have reviewed people talked about the original waste permit having been lodged with the EPA and, therefore, the EPA being aware of the issues involved.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (27 Jun 2013)

Simon Harris: That is perfect. My understanding of the EPA's involvement or knowledge is exactly as Ms Burke said, that it hold a registers that indicates that this permit has been issued. Therefore, if it was destroyed, removed or disappeared, it would still be lodged in her offices. The Ballybeg issue concerns me, but the broader point is that these are serious issues and allegations and everybody...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts (27 Jun 2013)

Simon Harris: I do not wish to delay the meeting. To draw this matter to a conclusion, when former Deputy Liz McManus raised it in the House, the Minister of State of the day said the Department had arranged for all departmental records recently released under the Freedom of Information Acts to be furnished to the then cathaoirleach of Wicklow County Council with the strong recommendation that they be...