Results 2,641-2,660 of 45,495 for speaker:Simon Harris

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: Just give me one second. Deputy Verona Murphy has been at this for long enough to know how it works. I do not tell the justice committee what to do. There would be uproar if I started telling the justice committee-----

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: No, go down-----

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: Go down to the-----

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: The way these things usually work is that the committee sets out its own work.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: Every Member of this House is welcome to go to the justice committee, make contributions and put forward their views in relation to it.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: In relation to the EU migration pact, there is a motion to refer it to the justice committee. The justice committee can scrutinise it. It will come back here, and the Government will give it ample time. Deputy Murphy can make her contribution both before the justice committee-----

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: -----and here in the Dáil.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: There were a number of other suggestions for debates. I am happy to facilitate a debate in this House at the appropriate time on abortion services. We should take that issue to the Business Committee. I am sure Members will want to discuss that matter. Similarly, some of the other issues around land use and Shannon, etc., can be explored at the Business Committee. Deputy Shortall...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (16 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: I do not have any donors. Stop it with your slurring of people.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy. I will undertake to engage with my Government colleagues. As she has rightly indicated, this cuts across a number of Departments. Many of the organisations fall within the Department of children. I have outlined on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, that Tusla has made payments. Some fall within the Department of Health or the health agency family. Some are...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: I also went further. Elections sometimes interrupt people's tenure of service but in 2019 I also brought about regulations to designate the professions of counsellor and psychotherapist under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act. I established the Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board. I appointed its members in February 2019 and they held their first meeting in May...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Collins. I appreciate the passion with which she discussed the issue. I just do not believe phrases like "treating them like dirt" add much to the debate, though. That is the Deputy's view.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: It is the Deputy's view and their view. Here is my view: this Government, which I am proud to lead, very much respects and values the work carried out by these workers. The Deputy is right that there are many aspects of our public services, including health and social services, that rely on people who have been traditionally outside the public sector. We are the better for it as a country....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy. I accept the sincerity of her view. Whether people agree or disagree with her view, it is well known in this House. We should not engage in revisionism. An awful lot has happened. We had a constitutional ban on abortion. We had the eighth amendment. This House was not empowered to legislate at all. We all went out, across party lines, and campaigned. It is kind of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for repeating her contention. Obviously, I do not agree with her. Even the three-day wait period has seen clarification on how it operates since the Covid pandemic. That used to involve two in-person visits but that is now not the case. That was something that came about during Covid that was deemed to work clinically well in the health service and was therefore...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: I, too, pay tribute to those who spoke out. As the Deputy correctly said, I was very influenced and informed in my own views. I am also very conscious, as the Deputy said, that they played a much larger role than any politician in this House, most particularly myself, in bringing about a successful "Yes" vote because they spoke to the people of Ireland and the people of Ireland responded...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: I will specifically answer those three questions, but I am conscious that people follow these debates and discussions at home and in the time available to me I want to say a few things. First, six years ago abortion was constitutionally banned in this country, so a lot has changed. We had a referendum, the result of which was decisive. Since then we have steered legislation through this...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: Gabh mo leithscéal. It does matter because when you publish draft legislation alongside a referendum, stating that it will be the law if people vote "Yes", it has to count for something. I welcome the constructive way in which the Deputy engaged on the matters. I am not being coy about the three matters. I am being honest. The Government has yet to consider them, but we intend to...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy McDonald. First, I answered her three questions sequentially and clearly. I will continue to engage with her on the three answers I gave her. Second, it is a little dismissive to suggest words and rhetoric when 120 procedures this year is not rhetoric and massive levels of investment in theatres and hiring more nurses and doctors are not words; they are real actions. I know...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (16 Apr 2024)

Simon Harris: How do you square that circle in terms of extra staff and extra investment?