Results 5,021-5,040 of 46,260 for speaker:Simon Harris

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

Simon Harris: I am very excited about the research Bill. It is a chance to get a stand-alone piece of research legislation right. Yesterday I announced that we will have a research advisory forum so we can hear directly from the community and from researchers to make sure we get it right. The Deputy is entirely correct. The establishment of five technological universities has been a big achievement for...

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

Simon Harris: I hope the Deputy had the good sense to tell that gentleman, her constituent, that she did not think he deserved a lump sum fuel allowance payment of €400 before Christmas. I hope she passed that on to him and if not, if he is watching, he might know that now.

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

Simon Harris: There are people really struggling in this country and unfortunately, the Deputy's party got this one badly wrong. It criticised Ministers for doing dossiers recently. It would be no harm if Sinn Féin did a bit of preparation before it came up with its policies.

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

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Higgins for raising this very important issue and for engaging with me on an ongoing basis on it. The short answer is "Yes". We can expect that. The pilot has gone very well. We do not want to end up as one of those countries that has more pilots than an airline. When something actually works we should embed it and roll it out. We now provide these free period products...

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

Simon Harris: The Deputy will certainly have it. I ask him to arrange for some people from that community to come to see me and we can talk about this. In both Cherry Orchard and Drogheda, we have really good models that are working. The challenge for the Government is to embed those models across the country. We intend to do that as part of the community safety partnership. I would be very happy to...

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

Simon Harris: I fully agree that the Garda Reserve has an important role to play in supplementing Garda visibility in our communities. We want to get to at least 15,000 gardaí and we want to grow those numbers even further. The benefit of having another layer of people who can support communities is clear for all to see. The first priority was to open the new garda recruitment campaign. Almost...

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

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Bacik. We consider all proposals and I look forward to debating that legislation. In relation to the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond's meeting, I note that two major retailers dropped the price of bread on the day the meeting was called. I do not think that was coincidental. We do not apologise for the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, and others having an...

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

Simon Harris: I note the significance of the WRC finding. I will certainly follow up with the Taoiseach in relation to the conversation the Deputy is relaying he had with Debenhams workers. I know from one of my briefs about the difficult time they have been going through. We have been trying to provide opportunities for skills, education and other job opportunities. We will reflect on the WRC position...

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

Simon Harris: My understanding is that Mr. Ultan Courtney was engaged by the LGMA at the behest of SIPTU to chair discussions. I also understand that a lot of progress was made during those discussions but, regrettably, it was not possible to reach a positive conclusion to the satisfaction of all parties. The Government would absolutely encourage all parties to continue to engage. Let us keep engaging...

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.