Results 2,721-2,740 of 45,495 for speaker:Simon Harris

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Andrews for raising this issue on behalf of his constituents in Ringsend and Irishtown. The Government is extraordinarily committed to the delivery of social and affordable houses. That can be seen with the significant increases year on year in both, in addition to housing supply overall. On the specifics around the glass bottle site and some of the suggestions and proposals...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: That is high praise from the Deputy; I thank him. I am pleased to be a friend of County Kerry. I thank the Deputy for all his time in bringing me around many educational facilities there. I am delighted to say we have now received a proposal from Kerry ETB, through SOLAS, to rejuvenate and regenerate the old Pretty Polly site and turn it into a state-of-the-art further education college,...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I know how stressful an issue it can be for the parent of an autistic child. We have put a lot of investment and effort into opening new autism classes throughout the county. On County Laois specifically, where there clearly seems to be a challenge, I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, to look into the matter.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: The Deputy has piqued my interest. I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for raising this important matter. The issue is ownership of the pier, but people in the community just want to see action. On foot of the Deputy suggesting the need for a fund for local authority-owned piers and harbours, I will ask Ministers Darragh O'Brien and McConalogue to consider his suggestion and revert to him.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Doherty for raising this very serious matter. I spoke to the Minister for children this morning. He was in contact with the CEO of Tusla, Ms Kate Duggan, today. My understanding is similar to Deputy Doherty's, that Tusla has put in place a new internal compliance unit. The purpose of this unit is to enable it to examine evidence from providers of special emergency...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Kelly for raising the issue. I am somewhat familiar from our time engaging on this in my past roles of the importance of the Nenagh community nursing home and the construction now being completed at the facility. Obviously, the State has invested significant funding in trying to bring this project forward. I will ask the Minister for Health to come back to the Deputy...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I will ask the Minister for Health to provide the Deputy with a further update and to liaise with the HSE chief executive on the matter.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank my colleague, Deputy Whitmore. It is an issue we are both familiar with in our constituency, as are many Deputies across the country. I welcome, as the Deputy does, the review of the school transport scheme which came to Cabinet yesterday. It is the largest review of the scheme since its establishment in 1967. We both acknowledge there are some good things in it relating to...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I note Deputy Barry's support for a "Yes" vote on both questions. I believe it is really important that we pass both of these referendums, which will take place on Friday week. A "Yes, No" vote would leave the sexist language about women in the Constitution. We are trying to place a value in the Constitution with regard to care. The Government already has a very active programme of work...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Berry. The first thing that I hope is on the minds of everyone in this House and people right across the country is a need to see an immediate cessation of violence, of killing and the horror the people in Gaza and of Palestine are experiencing. It remains the position of the Irish Government that there needs to be an immediate cessation of violence and of course the release...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: At the outset, I will call out and condemn what happened to the Deputy’s constituency office. I am thinking of her and her staff and would encourage anyone with information to come forward to the Garda in Offaly. It was an utterly despicable act that should be called out and condemned by all. I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. She has made a number of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I assure the Deputy that the HSE, the Department, the State Claims Agency and, I believe, the Department of Finance are represented on the group chaired by Dr. Mahony. I have the terms of reference with me. The group will assess why the costs of claims are continuing to rise, develop a plan to implement risk management, recommend measures to address patient concerns, and receive updates on...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: Just because someone does not agree with you it does not mean they do not accept the science. I am a Minister for science, for the record.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I very much accept the science and we very much accept the advisory structures we have set up. We very much accept that the challenges and targets which have been set are really difficult. I very much accept that every day, every week and every month it requires the Government to do new things. If we take agriculture, for example, as an area that has a significant focus on it-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: No, I accept-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: It would be lovely to answer it. The Government is absolutely bound by the targets and is working to achieve them. Do I accept the targets are extraordinarily challenging? I do but I am pointing out that in this House it has been said, for example, that farming will never reach its targets. This is not true. We are seeing emissions from farming and agriculture drop. We are seeing...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy. I hope she is asking a question to which she knows the answer is that we are not dragging our heels. The commitment we have given to the people of Wexford, to the Deputy and to the people of the south east is real. It is very real because we have invested an awful lot of money in it already. To be absolutely crystal clear, it is our intention to develop a...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: I am a firm believer that having access to a university in your county and community makes a real difference. I met a number of the students at the Wexford campus. Similarly to the Deputy, they told me that they could not have accessed third level education were it not for the provision of a campus in Wexford. We must now ask what more we can do in Wexford and what the benefits would be in...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: What we will do for Kylie Ann, children right across the country, parents and families is get this back on track. We saw the progress that could be made in 2017. We saw the fall in wait times, the extra children getting their services and the Ombudsman for Children's report welcoming some of that. We now have an extra €19 million. There are additional staff. I am very clear on...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2024)

Simon Harris: Hang on a second. I am not planning on doing that at all, to be honest.