Results 4,061-4,080 of 45,291 for speaker:Simon Harris

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: Without commenting on the individual case, issues regarding redundancy are set out through both contract law and, as the Deputy referenced, the industrial relations mechanism that is in place. It is not for the Government to intervene here, as there are clear industrial relations mechanisms in place.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: I can assure the Deputy that the Government's intention was not that. The Government's intention was to identify any potential accommodation that was available and, in the first instance, any accommodation that was available quickly. The Deputy and I understand why that was done in terms of responding in an emergency. As we move into a more sustained phase and need to move from the initial...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Griffin for raising this issue and echoing and amplifying the frustration of his constituents in relation to this. At a time when we are trying to support and sustain the rental market, encourage landlords to stay in the market and help people who are renting, it is important that the RTB can function efficiently for anyone who tries to contact it. I will pass on the Deputy's...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: I absolutely will not. The Deputy can have a go at and slur the Government, if he wants, but when he talks about the HSE, he is talking about hundreds of thousands people working every day. The HSE is nurses, doctors, healthcare assistants and people who get up and work bloody hard to try to run our health service. Thus, I do not agree with cheap-shot political lines at all. I will agree,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: We are also living in a country that has the highest life expectancy in Europe, as deemed by the World Health Organization. Not everything the Deputy says about the HSE is entirely true either. It must be doing something right.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: If the Deputy wants to blame the HSE for everything that goes wrong, he also has to acknowledge-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: -----when the health services progress. It is a statement of fact that the Deputy and his constituents are living in a country that has the highest life expectancy in Europe.He wants to blame the Government for everything but when something good happens, that is incidental and has nothing to do with us.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: He cannot have it both ways. The reality of the situation is there are too many people waiting too long-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: -----but it is also true to say that there were fewer people waiting last month than there were at the Covid peak. We are seeing real progress and inroads as a result of an unparalleled and unprecedented level of investment. That will continue and it will benefit the Deputy's constituents. The new ophthalmology service we will see in Cork this year will also fundamentally benefit the area.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: I do not concede that at all, because we are seeing Garda numbers grow through Templemore. This will be the first year since the Covid pandemic that we will see Garda numbers increase. We will see more new Garda members than gardaí leaving the force. We saw more than 90 trainees enter Templemore in November and more than 130 enter Templemore earlier this year. We saw more than 155...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: That will be a matter for the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien. He is working very intensively on this.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: The Deputy does not need to speak for the Minister of State, Deputy O'Brien; he can speak for himself. He is already working very hard on making a real difference in regard to this. Deputy Cairns implored the Government not to play politics with this. I respectfully suggest the same.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: Lads, I do not need any help. It is not fair to suggest that moving from 4,700 people seeking protection in our country to 100,000 people is a seamless transition. That is not fair. I am aware of the questions I was asked. I was asked questions in regard to the community engagement plan. I said it has gone to tender in the past two weeks. I was asked questions about how we will...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Connolly for raising these issues. Everybody in the House appreciates the beauty, benefit and importance of Galway as a city not just to the west and north-west regions but as a city of strategic importance to our country. Some of the issues are, quite frankly, related to the local authority and there is no getting away from that, but I accept that not all are. Of course,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: Of course it has to comply with its obligations under climate change. Even in discussions at Cabinet yesterday and announcements by the Minister, Deputy Ryan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, make it very clear that it can no longer be about Government, be it national or local, telling other people that climate change requires them to change. There is a significant programme...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: This is why we will not bring in a plan that is bad for the economy-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: -----bad for households and bad for the climate. The only people who would benefit would be the energy companies. Instead, what we will do-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: I was shouted down. What we will do instead is legislation for a windfall tax to hit companies where it hurts-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: -----in the pocket and on their profits.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (17 May 2023)

Simon Harris: There is a very simple answer to this-----