Results 481-500 of 45,480 for speaker:Simon Harris

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Military Aircraft (26 Mar 2025)

Simon Harris: My priority as Minister for Defence is to ensure that the Defence Forces’ operational capability is maintained and developed to enable it to carry out the roles assigned by Government. Equipment priorities for the Defence Forces are considered in the context of the established Capability Development and Equipment Development Planning processes. This is underpinned by significant...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Military Aircraft (25 Mar 2025)

Simon Harris: Under the terms of the Air Navigation (Foreign Military Aircraft) Order, 1952, all foreign military and state aircraft that wish to overfly or land in the state require diplomatic clearance from the Department of Foreign Affairs. Diplomatic clearance is subject to strict conditions, including that the aircraft are unarmed; carry no arms, ammunition or explosives; that they do not engage in...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Data Protection (25 Mar 2025)

Simon Harris: The EU-US Data Privacy Framework is an important means by which transatlantic data flows are facilitated. I am aware of developments in relation to the membership of the United States Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. My officials, including through engagement by our Embassy in Washington, engagement with other Government Departments and with the European Commission, are...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Bodies (25 Mar 2025)

Simon Harris: The extensive economic relationship between Ireland and the United States delivers prosperity and employment on both sides of the Atlantic. Protecting and developing the two-way trade and investment is a priority for me as Tánaiste. Securing insights on how best to position Ireland to navigate the turbulence in the trading environment in the coming period will be critically...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Data (25 Mar 2025)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 176 to 178, inclusive, together. The Department of Foreign Affairs holds a number of files relating to historic adoptions involving Irish children, which are currently housed at the National Archives of Ireland under a previous agreement to ensure their long-term preservation. These files are restricted from public access and can solely be retrieved by a...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Public Procurement Contracts (25 Mar 2025)

Simon Harris: Below is a table of expenditure on public procurement for the Department of Foreign Affairs in each of the past five years. 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 €m €m €m €m €m 64.8 72.4 103.9 95.9 111.5 There are no State Bodies...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Bodies (25 Mar 2025)

Simon Harris: There are no such bodies that fall under the aegis of my Department. While it may not come within the category set out in this question, in the interest of completeness the Deputy may wish to be aware that Section 19 of the Passports Act 2008 provides for a Passport Appeals Officer, to whom a person not satisfied with the decision of the Passport Service in relation to their application may...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Diplomatic Representation (25 Mar 2025)

Simon Harris: The Taoiseach visited the White House, at the invitation of President Trump, as part of his official St. Patrick’s Day programme in the United States. This was part of a wider St. Patrick's Day diplomatic engagement across the US, which encompassed 9 Government Ministers visiting 15 States different states, including my own engagements in Philadelphia and New York. In respect of...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Policy (25 Mar 2025)

Simon Harris: Ireland remains extremely concerned at the ongoing erosion of human rights and democracy in Russia which has been exacerbated by Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. The presidential elections held by Russia on 15-17 March 2024 took place in an ever-shrinking political space, which has resulted in an alarming increase of violations of civil and political rights,...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Departmental Contracts (25 Mar 2025)

Simon Harris: My Department has not engaged the named company centrally to perform work in the period specified and no fees have been incurred during this period.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Official Engagements (25 Mar 2025)

Simon Harris: During my recent Saint's Patrick's Day visit to the United States, I was delighted to visit Philadelphia and New York, two of Irish America’s most important and iconic cities. I renewed important political relationships with a wide range of American counterparts. This included New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Official Engagements (25 Mar 2025)

Simon Harris: I have not yet had occasion to meet the Ambassador of Malaysia to Ireland, His Excellency Wan Aznainizam Yusri Wan Abdul Rashid, in 2025. However, my officials have excellent ongoing engagement with the Ambassador and his team. Malaysia and Ireland share a warm bilateral relationship, based on many decades of business and trade links, engagement between our governments and strong...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Official Engagements (25 Mar 2025)

Simon Harris: Ministers met at the inaugural EU – GCC Summit in Brussels in October 2024, under the theme “Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity”. Ireland’s Ambassador in Abu Dhabi is accredited to Qatar, and travels there regularly. The Qatari Ambassador in London accredits also to Dublin, and officials of my Department are in frequent contact with the Qatari...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Passport Services (25 Mar 2025)

Simon Harris: With regard to the specific application about which the Deputy has enquired, the application is within the current turnaround time and has not yet reached the issue by date.

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Social Media (25 Mar 2025)

Simon Harris: The Department endeavours to maximise accessibility of its video content published on social media, and to date has prioritised provision of video content on social media channels with accompanying closed captions/subtitles rather than closed on-screen Irish sign language interpretation, in order to achieve this wherever practical. The percentage of videos published natively on the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: United Nations (25 Mar 2025)

Simon Harris: The role of the President of the General Assembly is a pivotal one within the UN system. The election of the President of the General Assembly is scheduled to take place on 2 June 2025 through a vote in the UN General Assembly, with a simple majority required. If only one candidate has been nominated before the vote, then the President of the General Assembly may be elected by...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Public Procurement Contracts (25 Mar 2025)

Simon Harris: The Defence Vote Group is comprised of Vote 35 (Army Pensions) and Vote 36 (Defence). The Army Pensions Vote, which is mainly demand-led and non-discretionary, provides pension benefits to 13,600 Army Pensioners and their dependants. The Defence Vote allocation provides, inter alia, for the pay and allowances of 8,960 public service employees (including 8,000 members of the Permanent Defence...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Departmental Bodies (25 Mar 2025)

Simon Harris: I can confirm that there are no regulatory, appeal or other bodies funded by or under the remit of my Department that are quasi-judicial in nature. There are three bodies under the aegis of my Department; the Army Pensions Board, the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces and the External Oversight Body of the Defence Forces (EOB), which was placed on a Statutory basis on 1 December 2024. The...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Air Corps (25 Mar 2025)

Simon Harris: The Defence Forces Infrastructure Development Plan (IDP) sets out a programme of project delivery for the years 2023 to 2027. The Plan is iterative in nature thus ensuring that it remains relevant and that investment is targeted where most needed. The updated Plan estimated infrastructure requirements to be in the region of some €359m for the coming years. At the end of 2024 there...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Departmental Properties (25 Mar 2025)

Simon Harris: I am advised that none of these properties can be occupied without considerable refurbishment as they were built before the Building Regulations and associated standards arising from same came into effect. There are plans to overhaul the condition of the vacant housing stock, in so far as possible, to increase the provision of accommodation for serving personnel. In this regard, the...