Results 1,861-1,880 of 45,510 for speaker:Simon Harris

Public Accounts Committee: Forfás Annual Accounts 2012 (17 Oct 2013)

Simon Harris: I thank Mr. Shanahan and his team for attending. I concur with the comments made by the Chairman and Deputy Dowds on Carrisbrook House. It does not add up to have a 65-year lease. It stinks, to be honest, that a 65-year lease was taken out in 1969 that had no break clause and an upward-only rent clause. I accept that the blame for that decision does not land at the door of Mr. Shanahan...

Public Accounts Committee: Forfás Annual Accounts 2012 (17 Oct 2013)

Simon Harris: Is there a skills deficit? Is there a specific skill set that his organisation is missing as a result of the moratorium?

Public Accounts Committee: Forfás Annual Accounts 2012 (17 Oct 2013)

Simon Harris: On 26 July last Dr. Constantin Gurdgiev - and he will have to excuse me if I have pronounced his name wrong - authored a commentary on the Forfás annual report. He was quite damning about the way Forfás divides its expenditure and concluded his analysis by saying that "less than 12.65% of the organisation grant actually went to fund its activities". He said that €43.5...

Public Accounts Committee: Forfás Annual Accounts 2012 (17 Oct 2013)

Simon Harris: That is a perfectly fair explanation of the situation. I ask the chief executive officer to comment further on the pension liability and the next deficit. Note 8 in the annual report states that "Forfás has no evidence that this funding policy will not continue to meet" its pension obligations. If the pension deficit is to continue then what impact will that have on other operations?...

Public Accounts Committee: Forfás Annual Accounts 2012 (17 Oct 2013)

Simon Harris: Okay.

Public Accounts Committee: Forfás Annual Accounts 2012 (17 Oct 2013)

Simon Harris: Where are we projected to be at the end of 2013, as opposed to the end of 2012?

Public Accounts Committee: Forfás Annual Accounts 2012 (17 Oct 2013)

Simon Harris: Thank you.

Leaders' Questions (22 Oct 2013)

Simon Harris: That was constructive.

Topical Issue Debate: Rail Services (22 Oct 2013)

Simon Harris: I thank the Minister of State with responsibility for public transport, Deputy Alan Kelly, for being in the House this evening to take this important debate. Irish Rail stated that it needed to save money on energy costs and therefore it intended to reduce the capacity of DART trains at off-peak times. Unfortunately for commuters in Greystones and Bray and those along the DART line, the...

Topical Issue Debate: Rail Services (22 Oct 2013)

Simon Harris: I thank the Minister of State for his reply and am grateful that he intends to raise these issues directly with the chief executive. All I ask is for the chief executive and Irish Rail to keep the commitment they made to commuters and the Minister of State on 9 September 2013, when they issued a press statement stating this capacity issue would only affect off-peak DART services. My...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Child and Family Agency Bill 2013: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 Oct 2013)

Simon Harris: I welcome the amendments to the Child Care Act 1991 that have been proposed by the Minister. They address many concerns in respect of inspections, etc. I ask the Minister to provide some clarity regarding the area of childminding in the context of the recent publication of a report, Right From the Start, by the expert advisory group on the early years strategy. Does the Minister envisage...

Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (6 Nov 2013)

Simon Harris: I also very much welcome the opportunity to speak on the Finance (No. 2) Bill 2013 and to offer some thoughts and views on the legislation before the House. I commend the Minister for Finance and his Cabinet colleagues on the many innovative measures in the Bill aimed at harnessing economic growth and moving the country forward after years of reckless mismanagement, which my colleague Deputy...

Written Answers — Department of Environment, Community and Local Government: Local Authority Housing Maintenance (7 Nov 2013)

Simon Harris: 155. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if there are guidelines or standards in place to ensure that all local authority houses are provided with heating and insulation to a sufficient standard; if such standards are specific to Ireland or correspond with specific European directives or regulations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47555/13]

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (7 Nov 2013)

Simon Harris: This is a school in my constituency. I have raised this matter before and stated the HSE will have to comment on it when it attends the committee on 14 November, in particular the audit undertaken which has not been published but which has been widely leaked to the media.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (7 Nov 2013)

Simon Harris: Since the Chairman is bringing so many issues to finality, it reminded me of another issue we have discussed many times, namely, the lack of accountability once money leaves central government and goes to local government. It is timely to look at this again considering the publication of the Local Government Bill. I would take the Chairman's advice and guidance on this but we raised the...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (7 Nov 2013)

Simon Harris: I know they were both in but the Bill has been published since they appeared before us and I have yet to see in the Bill what greater scrutiny there will be from when money leaves central government to go to local government so I would very much welcome that.

Public Accounts Committee: Bord na gCon - Annual Accounts 2011 (7 Nov 2013)

Simon Harris: I thank Mr. Neilan, Mr. Meaney and the team for being here today. At the outset I should make it clear that those who are asking questions and holding the board to account are not against rural jobs, a stadium in Limerick or positive developments in the greyhound industry. Everybody appreciates the importance of such industries to the Irish economy and communities. We are asking the...

Public Accounts Committee: Bord na gCon - Annual Accounts 2011 (7 Nov 2013)

Simon Harris: The engineers advice was that those works upon the site and throughout the site that are to be undertaken in advance of taking possession should be specified in the contract. Were they specified in the contract?

Public Accounts Committee: Bord na gCon - Annual Accounts 2011 (7 Nov 2013)

Simon Harris: We know the engineers made that comment and I take Mr. Neilan's response on board. Five days later on 27 November, the solicitors wrote to say they noted the requirement for a condition to be inserted in the contract providing that the vendor will be obliged to apply for a fill licence and that under that licence will fill the site at the stadium and car parking area at the vendors cost to a...

Public Accounts Committee: Bord na gCon - Annual Accounts 2011 (7 Nov 2013)

Simon Harris: This is where I am confused. Mr. Neilan said there was no legal requirement. The only reason there was no legal requirement was that it was not in the contract. Before he signed the contract, he got to decide what he wished to put in the contract on his side. The vendor on its side then signed the contract.