Results 81-100 of 45,231 for speaker:Simon Harris

Ceisteanna ó na Comhaltaí Eile - Other Members’ Questions (3 Apr 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Malcolm Byrne for raising this important issue, which affects his constituency and mine. It actually affects quite a number of constituencies and our region. In many ways, it speaks, as Deputy Byrne rightly said, to the issue of infrastructure. We are too slow at delivering infrastructure. This is why when we came together to form this Government, the programme for...

Ceisteanna ó na Comhaltaí Eile - Other Members’ Questions (3 Apr 2025)

Simon Harris: That is right, but in fairness to the NTA, the policy direction of recent years in terms of roads was regrettable. It delayed the delivery of the projects needed as regards the N11. There needs to be absolute policy clarity on this now, and I believe there is. All of us, regardless of party affiliation or of being in government or opposition, from Wicklow-Wexford and Wicklow should come...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (3 Apr 2025)

Simon Harris: I will endeavour to work constructively with Deputy Doherty and others in Donegal on this issue. As Deputy Doherty said, I met the Raphoe community playgroup. It told me about the great work it has been doing and I am in no doubt about that. It has been in operation since the early 1980s. It moved into a new purpose-built facility in 2000 and, as Deputy Doherty rightly said, that building...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (3 Apr 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for the constructive suggestion. He is right, in that we have to get a hell of a lot better at planning. The sense of surprise when a child seeks to move in a moment of transition in his or her life is not acceptable. We need to break down the silos. We have established the Cabinet committee on disability. We met last week, or the week before last, and a number of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Apr 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Collins for raising this important issue. I should say about the comment on mná na hÉireann and the likes, I am very proud of a lot of the work we have done together in this House, often on a cross-party basis, to make progress on women's reproductive health, whether around contraception, repealing the eighth amendment or a number of other important steps. I accept...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Apr 2025)

Simon Harris: I want to be very clear, in that I am certainly not, and I hope no one in government is - I have not heard anyone in government doing this, and the Minister for Health certainly is not - blaming pharmacists at all. Pharmacists have an important role to play. In fact, in our programme for Government, we commit to wanting to see an expanded role for pharmacists and a new pharmacy contract....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Apr 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Ward for the question and his advocacy on behalf of his constituents in Donegal. I certainly will engage with him, as will the Government, on some of those technical matters. While I am taking the question, it very much relates to the testing standard that is used to evaluate the impact of defective concrete blocks. I realise this is an issue that is having a very...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Apr 2025)

Simon Harris: I say sincerely that the fact he and constituents of Donegal have had to get into such a level of technical detail shows the complexity and seriousness of this issue for people in the constituency, and the seriousness with which the Deputy takes it as their representative. I would be happy to set up a technical briefing with officials from the Department of housing. I would also encourage...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Apr 2025)

Simon Harris: I think I saw a comment from a spokesperson for the French Government today making some reference to that. I do not dismiss that but in the nearly daily conversations I have had with the trade Commissioner and those I have had with nearly a dozen European counterparts, the overwhelming majority view is to try to find a way to bring people around the table. The Deputy's question is valid....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Apr 2025)

Simon Harris: I share the Deputy’s view of some of what we heard in the press conference in the Rose Garden, and that is what it was. One must then work through the legal detail. We are already seeing that things, which were announced as coming in at midnight last night, are not coming in until 5 or 9 April, so there is a fair bit of teasing through beyond the headline announcements. Certainly,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Apr 2025)

Simon Harris: I am very clear that there will be many moments - I think the Deputy is right about that – and there will be sector-specific moments to come. The point I was making was that in my engagement with the US Commerce Secretary and others it was very clear that the US was not mandated to engage or negotiate until after this liberation day as they bizarrely described it. That has happened...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (3 Apr 2025)

Simon Harris: I begin by paying tribute to Mick O'Dwyer. It is with tremendous sadness that we learnt of the passing of one of Ireland's greatest GAA icons. His contribution to Irish sport and community life was extraordinary, particularly in his native county of Kerry, although we do like to claim a bit of him with the great joy he brought us in Wicklow and many other counties. I think of him and his...

Seanad: International Trade and International Relations: Statements (3 Apr 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach and other Members of Seanad Eireann. I welcome the opportunity to address the Seanad on the issues of international trade and international relations. Trade and our trading relations with partners around the world are, of course, at the core of the Irish economic model. It is not just an economic theory. It is at the core of how we see ourselves in the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: EU Presidency (3 Apr 2025)

Simon Harris: Ireland will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from July to December 2026. Since the inaugural European Political Community (EPC) Summit held in Prague in 2022, during the Czech EU Presidency, it has become the established practice that the EU Member State holding the Presidency of the Council in the second half of each year offers to host an EPC Summit. This was the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: International Relations (3 Apr 2025)

Simon Harris: The territorial integrity of States is a fundamental principle of the United Nations Charter, Ireland and our EU partners are clear that respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other States is non-negotiable. Ireland fully supports Denmark’s approach, which has been to seek to deal with this issue directly and discreetly with the US in a measured way through...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (3 Apr 2025)

Simon Harris: The Government has consistently condemned the attacks by the Houthis in Yemen against international shipping in the Red Sea, which began in November 2023. The Government has also condemned rocket attacks on Israel by the Houthis, which is completely unacceptable. Attempting to close down one of the world’s major shipping routes, threatening vessels and the lives of the crews aboard...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Foreign Conflicts (3 Apr 2025)

Simon Harris: I discussed the situation in southern Lebanon with the Ministers for Defence and Foreign Affairs of Lebanon during my recent visit. I am deeply concerned about the escalation of violence and the continued presence of Hezbollah and Israeli forces in Southern Lebanon. Although the ceasefire agreement between Hezbollah and Israel was not renewed on 18 February, it is essential for the...

Written Answers — Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Official Travel (3 Apr 2025)

Simon Harris: Ireland and Italy enjoy excellent bilateral relations. I meet regularly with my Italian counterpart, Antonio Tajani, including at the monthly meetings of the Foreign Affairs Council. I spoke by telephone with Minister Tajani on 1st April where we had positive discussions covering a range of issues, with a key focus on international trade developments. While no immediate visit to Italy is...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Defence Forces (3 Apr 2025)

Simon Harris: As matters surrounding this case, remain active in the Workplace Relations Commission, it is not appropriate for me to comment at this time.

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Departmental Meetings (2 Apr 2025)

Simon Harris: Since the Tánaiste and Minister for Defence took office, there has been one Ministerial Management Board on 4 February 2025. The attendees at that meeting are recorded below. I am in regular contact with individual members of the Management Board and will meet periodically with the full Board throughout my term in office. Attendees were: Tánaiste and Minister for Defence, Simon...