Results 41,981-42,000 of 46,353 for speaker:Simon Harris

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Flood Relief Schemes (26 Nov 2015)

Simon Harris: Cork County Council, as the Contracting Authority for the Scheme, has very recently received a recommendation from its consultants in relation to the tender process and on 24 November, wrote formally to the Office of Public Works on the matter. The OPW is considering the correspondence from the Council and will be replying shortly on it.

Finance Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (25 Nov 2015)

Simon Harris: It is an important question and I assure the Deputy that the Department of Finance will publish that report in the coming months. Regardless of the findings, a report will be published. Alongside that, all the submissions received will be published.

Finance Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (25 Nov 2015)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy McGrath. In his amendment, the Deputy is seeking to reduce the rate of DIRT to a rate equivalent to the taxpayer's marginal rate of tax, that is, 40%, 20% or 0%, if the person does not have a taxable income. The standard DIRT rate has increased significantly since 2008, as Deputy McGrath said. It has gone from 20% to 41% and is now 1% above the higher rate of tax. Up to...

Finance Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (25 Nov 2015)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy McGrath. I know there was a debate about this on Committee Stage with my colleague, the Minister for Finance. Based on that, I do not propose to accept the amendment. As stated by the Minister on Committee Stage, section 114 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides for a tax deduction in respect of travel expenses that an employee or office holder is necessarily obliged...

Finance Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (25 Nov 2015)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Daly, and I know she has raised the issue on several occasions because I have been here when the Minister of Finance has discussed it with her. I am aware of the issues that the Deputy is attempting to address with her proposed amendment. At the outset, I acknowledge the stressful situations that individuals face when building works are not completed to the required...

Finance Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (25 Nov 2015)

Simon Harris: I do not know where to begin. Clearly, we are not opposed to equality. We are in favour of trying to get everyone in this country back into employment, thereby reducing the burden of tax on work. We have increased the minimum wage and we have tried to support people through the social welfare system during a number of difficult years. I imagine we are going to have many such debates in...

Finance Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (25 Nov 2015)

Simon Harris: They were social welfare measures.

Finance Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (25 Nov 2015)

Simon Harris: Deputies will be aware that this amendment was tabled on Committee Stage last week. I understand that on that occasion my ministerial colleague, Deputy Noonan, discussed the issue in some detail with members of the committee. In the initial debate on this amendment earlier today, Deputies Pearse Doherty and Boyd Barrett referred to equality budgeting and the need to evaluate the impact of...

Finance Bill 2015: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (25 Nov 2015)

Simon Harris: Not so.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Coastal Erosion (25 Nov 2015)

Simon Harris: I thank Senator Mooney and Councillor Warnock, who raised this matter with the Senator, for giving me the opportunity to speak in the Seanad on the subject of coastal erosion, on a specific issue affecting County Leitrim. Coastal erosion is a natural and ongoing process which takes place around the entire coastline of Ireland. Senator Mooney has highlighted a case in which coastal erosion...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Coastal Erosion (25 Nov 2015)

Simon Harris: The Acting Chairman, as a Leitrim man, will be interested that this historic building is described on the national inventory of architectural heritage website, published by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, as an imposing Georgian country house built in circa 1750, occupying a prominent site overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The site includes two stone folly towers and a...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Early School Leavers (25 Nov 2015)

Simon Harris: I thank Senator Burke for raising this important matter, which I am taking on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan. I welcome this opportunity to clarify the position of the Department of Education and Skills. As Senator Burke will be aware, the Cork Life Centre is an out-of-school educational facility in Sundays Well, Cork, which supports...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Early School Leavers (25 Nov 2015)

Simon Harris: I thank Senator Burke for his remarks. As he has rightly stated, the Minister for Education and Skills would have liked to be here this morning but she is currently abroad on Government business. A key consideration for the Minister in this matter is the Department's policy of inclusion, where the objective is for children to be educated within the mainstream system to the greatest extent...

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Properties (25 Nov 2015)

Simon Harris: The Commissioners have received an expression of interest from a group, for use of the old Garda Station at Saint Oran's Road, Buncrana, Co. Donegal. They have been advised that, in the first instance, the property is under consideration for other State use.

Credit Union Sector: Motion [Private Members] (24 Nov 2015)

Simon Harris: I move amendment No. 1:To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:"notes that:— the Government has a clear policy to support the strategic growth and development of credit unions in Ireland as set out in the Report of the Commission on Credit Unions and its recommendations; — the safety of members’ savings and the security of the...

Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2015)

Simon Harris: Not as costly as Fianna Fáil was going to charge.

Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2015)

Simon Harris: Neither does Sinn Féin.

Leaders' Questions (24 Nov 2015)

Simon Harris: Hear, hear.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Office of Public Works Expenditure (24 Nov 2015)

Simon Harris: I refer to my previous answer to Question No. 347 in which I informed the Deputy that the information was being collated and a detailed response would issue to the Deputy directly. I wish to advise the deputy that the information requested will be issued to him directly in the coming days.

Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Telecommunications Infrastructure (24 Nov 2015)

Simon Harris: The telecommunications mast at the former Garda Station in Rathduff, County Cork is still in use under licence from the Commissioners of Public Works.