Results 44,861-44,880 of 46,456 for speaker:Simon Harris

Confidence in the Minister for Justice and Equality: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (29 May 2013)

Simon Harris: I am pleased to express my full confidence in the Minister, Deputy Shatter, to thank him for his work to date and to look forward to the continuation of his ambitious programme of legislative reform. At 9 p.m. we will put this piece of political opportunism behind us in order to allow him to return to dealing with issues such as the Mental Capacity Bill, which will make a difference to the...

Topical Issue Debate: Crèche Inspections (29 May 2013)

Simon Harris: If ever the limitations of this House were to be seen, this is it where one has 30 seconds to speak about a major issue.

Topical Issue Debate: Crèche Inspections (29 May 2013)

Simon Harris: It is pathetic. It is not the Minister's fault. I am pleased that there is a thorough Garda investigation. I would ask the Minister to give consideration to the use of the Health Information and Quality Authority. HIQA is carrying out inspections of nursing homes. It will start carrying out inspections in residential homes for persons with disabilities. It is the independent regulator....

Topical Issue Debate: Crèche Inspections (29 May 2013)

Simon Harris: This is a rapid fire round. Parents in my constituency of Wicklow, and parents throughout the country, are upset, worried, disturbed and shocked at what they witnessed in last night's "Prime Time" programme into what the Minister correctly described this morning on national radio as incidents of emotional abuse in some crèches, including one in my county. It is widely accepted that the...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Enrolments (28 May 2013)

Simon Harris: 273. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the plans he has in place to ensure that adequate school places are now available in a town (details supplied) for the forthcoming school year commencing in September; the further plans he has to address the need for school places in the town for the following school year starting in September 2014; the methods used by his Department to...

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources: Energy Conservation (28 May 2013)

Simon Harris: 443. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources in the context of Delivering Our Green Potential, published in 2012, the progress that has been made towards the commitment to achieve a 33% reduction in public sector energy use by 2020; if he will outline the steps being taken to achieve the required 3-4% reduction this year; and if he will make a statement on the...

Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed) (23 May 2013)

Simon Harris: I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013 and commend the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform for introducing it to the House. I share Deputy Lawlor's evaluation of the background to this legislation. When we were canvassing in the last general election, public representatives and candidates from all parties...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Simon Harris: I presume there are lower and higher ends of benchmarks as well. Clearly, this is a higher-end project. Ms McGrath should feel free to correct me. She has told the committee that accommodation for a member of Cabinet was provided for €70,000 in Hawkins House. I understand that the circumstances were different and it was part of a larger projects. There were savings made there. I...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Simon Harris: The other comparator table that Ms McGrath sent in to us on 22 May relates to the refurbishment of offices for the Minister and his staff in the Department of Transport, the refurbishment for the Minister of State and his staff in the Department of Transport and the office refurbishment for the former Taoiseach, Mr. Bertie Ahern, and his staff. Were those all stand-alone projects, or were...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Simon Harris: While we are on it, because this is a broader issue than any one individual, from where would the brief have come for the refurbishment of the offices for the former Taoiseach? Would that brief have come from the Department of the Taoiseach?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Simon Harris: What is happening with that office today?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Simon Harris: The last page of Ms McGrath's letter of 16 May states, in the third paragraph, that, in order to provide for acoustic insulation and fire protection in the Minister's room, the OPW used timber-veneered panelling because it was an appropriate option to deliver within the restricted timeframe available. Would Ms McGrath explain the restricted timeframe, in other words, were there additional...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Simon Harris: The issue about which there has been significant debate - if Ms McGrath is not the person to answer, she should feel free to say so - is that of ministerial involvement in these works. There have been media reports that it involved ministerial sign-off. What is Ms McGrath's understanding of the link between the then Minister of State and the OPW and the Department in carrying out these...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Simon Harris: I thank Ms McGrath.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Simon Harris: I thank Ms McGrath for helping members tease out this issue. While she has answered some of these questions in her written brief, obviously not everyone is privy to that and so I will ask her to put them on the record here. The OPW was responsible for meeting the cost of providing this office space. From where does it find that money? Ms McGrath has told Deputy Eoghan Murphy that there is...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Simon Harris: Does that include any works the OPW must do across its entire range of responsibilities?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Simon Harris: Not just ministerial or Civil Service offices.

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Simon Harris: Very well. When the OPW is contacted by a Department, in this instance by the then Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, does it simply take the Department at its word that it does not have adequate accommodation space or does the OPW link in with it? Does the OPW try to establish whether it can save money? I have to hand many drawings and could be confused but one drawing from...

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Simon Harris: Did that happen in this instance?

Public Accounts Committee: 2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 10 - Office of Public Works (23 May 2013)

Simon Harris: In other words, before the OPW sanction or agree to undertake a project, it would have to satisfy itself that there is not existing accommodation within the Department.