Results 5,481-5,500 of 46,260 for speaker:Simon Harris

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Further and Higher Education (20 Apr 2023)

Simon Harris: My Department has allocated €5 million to the Higher Education Authority for mental health and well-being services this year in Higher Education Institutes. As autonomous bodies, the internal disbursement of mental health and well-being funding, including the funding of student services, such as support for people dealing with gambling addiction, is a matter for each Institute so...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Third Level Staff (20 Apr 2023)

Simon Harris: As the Deputy will appreciate, universities are autonomous institutions within the meaning of the Universities Act 1997. As such, individual institutions are responsible for staffing matters, including the management of vacant lecturing positions. As Minister, I rightly have no direct role in that regard, and, accordingly, my Department does not collect nor have access to the data requested...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Private Security Authority (19 Apr 2023)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 82 and 83 together. I can advise the Deputy, that the Private Security Authority, an independent body under the aegis of my Department, is the statutory body with responsibility for licensing and regulating the private security industry in Ireland. The Private Security Authority regulates both contractors and employees across a range of sectors in the security...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Service (19 Apr 2023)

Simon Harris: My Department is progressing a range of policy options to ensure that the courts have a suitably wide range of appropriate options for dealing with people who have committed minor offences. The Programme for Government contains a broad range of policies and proposals that represent a coherent approach to enhancing and sustaining a more just and safe society, with a specific commitment to...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Service (19 Apr 2023)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 85 and 86 together. I have sought the information requested by the Deputy from the Irish Prison Service, however, the information was not available in time. I will write to the Deputy once the information is to hand.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Service (19 Apr 2023)

Simon Harris: I have sought the information requested by the Deputy from the Irish Prison Service, however, the information was not available in time. I will write to the Deputy once the information is to hand.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Service (19 Apr 2023)

Simon Harris: As the Deputy will be aware all prisoners may make a complaint at any time and the Irish Prison Service treats all complaints with the utmost seriousness. Complaints received by the Irish Prison Service vary in nature and gravity. For example, some may relate to conditions of accommodation, quality of food or access to services while other complaints can be more serious such as...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Service (19 Apr 2023)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 89 to 92, inclusive, together. As the Deputy will appreciate, judges are independent in the matter of sentencing, as in other matters concerning the exercise of judicial functions, subject only to the Constitution and the law. As a general rule, the court is required to impose a sentence which is proportionate not only to the crime but to the individual...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Residency Permits (19 Apr 2023)

Simon Harris: I have been informed that the person referred to by the Deputy will receive their IRP card in the next 10 - 15 working days. If customers have an emergency, they can contact the Immigration Service Help immigrationsupport@justice.ie who will endeavour to assist them. Queries in relation to the status of individual immigration cases may be made directly to my Department by e-mail using the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Citizenship Applications (19 Apr 2023)

Simon Harris: A request for further documentation was made to the person concerned on 23 September 2022 and was reissued on 10 April 2023. The documents have now been received and the processing of the application can resume with a view to establishing whether the applicant meets the statutory conditions for the granting of naturalisation. It will be submitted to me for decision in due course. The...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Healthcare Infrastructure Provision (19 Apr 2023)

Simon Harris: UCC submitted their Dental School project to the Higher Education Authority for consideration under the Higher Education Capacity Building process. This process was developed to identify opportunities in the Higher Education system to build capacity in Dentistry, Pharmacy, Medicine, Nursing, and Veterinary Medicine programmes. The HEA have recently submitted their recommendations to me. I...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Dental Services (19 Apr 2023)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 182 to 184, inclusive, together. The matter of health workforce planning and ensuring an appropriate pipeline of qualified healthcare workers within Ireland, including all suitably qualified dental professionals, is a major priority for my Department. I have just recently received recommendations from the HEA in respect of the Expressions of Interest...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Student Accommodation (19 Apr 2023)

Simon Harris: I am actively working to address the supply of student accommodation. Increasing costs of construction and financing are impacting on viability, and as a result a number of Universities had to pause their projects. In responding to these challenges, on 29 November 2022, Government approved development of both short and medium term policy responses to activate supply.  These...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (18 Apr 2023)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for asking the question. The Government's zero tolerance strategy, published last year, is an ambitious five-year programme of reform aimed at achieving a society which does not accept, in any way, shape or form, domestic, sexual and gender-based violence or, crucially, the attitudes which underpin it. Built on the four pillars of the Istanbul Convention, the strategy was...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (18 Apr 2023)

Simon Harris: I fully acknowledge the need for urgency and am confident that the Government and both Houses see the need too, for all the reasons the Deputy has outlined. As a Government or as an Oireachtas, we do not establish new agencies very often. I hope the fact that we have taken a decision to establish a new agency assures the women of Ireland and the people of Ireland more broadly that we are...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Drug Dealing (18 Apr 2023)

Simon Harris: We will of course engage with the Deputy to consider the legislation and seek views and opinions on it as well. For clarity, the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 is the responsibility of the Minister of Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, and we may need that engagement aspect as well. I get what the Deputy is trying to do here, though, and I fully respect his motivation, which is a concern around the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (18 Apr 2023)

Simon Harris: The Deputy is entirely right. We have a commitment to double the number of refuge spaces under the third national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. For the avoidance of doubt, this is to double the number of refuge spaces, bringing it to 280. As the Deputy will be aware, Tusla reviewed the accommodation services for victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (18 Apr 2023)

Simon Harris: I assure the Deputy, on my part and those of the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, that this is a major area of priority in the Department of Justice and across the Government. The Deputy referred to the familicide review and we do have that report in the Department. I have considered it in quite a lot of detail. I met the commissioner of that report...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (18 Apr 2023)

Simon Harris: It is accepted by me, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and the whole of the Government that these 280 places are not the end destination. It is, though, where we realistically believe that pulling out all the stops and going at this with gusto and prioritisation is truthfully where we can get to in the lifetime of this strategy. I have even a greater degree of confidence about this after...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Reviews (18 Apr 2023)

Simon Harris: I very much appreciate and welcome what Deputy Ó Ríordáin is trying to do here. There is always an additional onus of responsibility on a disciplined or hierarchical organisation in terms of being even more acutely aware around things like culture, inclusion, support, and empowering people to speak up and to speak out. On the topic of cultural audits, I am happy to get a...