Results 1,001-1,020 of 45,281 for speaker:Simon Harris

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Nov 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, which I acknowledge she has raised on a number of occasions. I can only tell her what my understanding is. My understanding is this was not a funding issue and that there was a challenge in identifying people, but I take the point the Deputy has a piece of paper from the HSE that does not fully align with that. I personally undertake to raise the...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Nov 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. His idea is a sensible one. I will certainly ask the Minister for sport and suggest she and the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, ask Swim Ireland to assist with that. I know from my constituency that can be helpful in mapping this out. We have seen an improvement in the availability of swimming pools and public pools. We need to...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Nov 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising the anomalies or the need to maybe tweak the power up grant and grants and funding around solar panels. This is something I will speak directly to the Minister about, but he is aware of it. In years gone by, we allocated a lot of funding to support small businesses. Sometimes it has even been hard to get all that funding drawn down because of the rigidity of...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Nov 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy very much for raising the issue and I accept the sincerity with which he does so. We have obviously seen a number of very considerable enhancements for eligible homeowners, including 100% grants subject to that overall maximum grant of €462,000 per dwelling, which we increased only last month from the original figure of €420,000 and also keeping the grant...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Nov 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Kerrane for raising this important issue and for the constructive way in which she has done that. I know of the strength of feeling in the community of Ballaghaderreen which she is bringing to the floor of the Dáil here. I want to assure the Deputy that we take the safety of people living and working in rural Ireland very seriously. Preventing crime does not just mean...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Nov 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Bacik for raising this important and sensitive issue. I can only imagine the pain that the Plunkett must feel as they still look for answers and information all these years on. I take seriously the point she makes about that anomaly and the importance of the rights of victims' families and I will raise that directly with the Minister for Justice. I want to be careful to...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Nov 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Cairns very much for raising the question. The Government set the parameters for the housing targets for the next number of years out to 2030 today. That was a sensible thing to do because it does anchor the debate and discussion we will have no doubt in this country in the coming weeks. We also did that alongside the national planning framework because without a draft...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Nov 2024)

Simon Harris: I absolutely would. I join with the Deputy in offering my sincere condolences to the family of baby Mihai on their tragic loss. Children Health Ireland, CHI, have advised the Department that a review has been commissioned in relation to Mihai's care which is normal process under the HSE's incident management framework. It also says that it will engage with the family on the terms of...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Nov 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Canney for raising this matter. We had an update from the Minister, Deputy Burke, at the Cabinet today. I do not have the figures in front of me but from looking through the table, local authority by local authority, it looks to me that around 60% of those eligible so far have applied for the grant. We will certainly keep under review the deadline for that grant. I think it...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Nov 2024)

Simon Harris: There is so much muttering going on it is hard to speak. We have to get this legislation correct and I think the appropriate way to proceed is for the foreign affairs committee, where the Bill will be at, to consider this issue this evening, to be briefed by the line Minister and the sponsor of the Bill, to receive presentations from both, and then for that committee to advise us on how to...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Nov 2024)

Simon Harris: I can only account to this House what I have been informed. I have been informed what I have relayed to this House by the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs. That is my information. That is all I can relay to this House. In relation to Deputy Naughten, I can discuss that with the Minister but we are not proposing to make time available, to tell the truth, because we have a...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Nov 2024)

Simon Harris: The Government will continue its work in that area.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Nov 2024)

Simon Harris: First, I wish to inform the House that today, the Government appointed the first ever ambassador from Palestine to Ireland. That is an important moment. Deputy Pringle should not tut-tut about that. It is something that is seen as very important by the Palestinian Authority. If Deputy Pringle wants to tut-tut about that, that is on him. The ambassador is very pleased at being appointed,...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Nov 2024)

Simon Harris: I am getting an echo back.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2024)

Simon Harris: All of us, including the Deputy and everybody else in this House, will have a chance to put forward proposals to carers in the days ahead as to what we would do to support them over the next number of years. I am proud of a number of the measures we have taken, under the leadership of the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, in providing additional payments before Christmas to our carers, as well as...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2024)

Simon Harris: The Deputy is right that there was a period during the year where we had to put restrictions on hiring new posts in the health service because many more thousands of people had been hired than had been budgeted for.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2024)

Simon Harris: We worked our way through that, and there are lots more people working in the public health service now, including in Kerry. There are around 410 additional staff in Kerry hospital today. I think there has been an increase of around 177 nurses in the lifetime of this Government. When it comes to reducing wait times we are making progress. We are one of the few countries in Europe that has...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2024)

Simon Harris: -----for cataract procedures in Kerry has fallen this year compared with last year.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2024)

Simon Harris: No, you know why it is-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2024)

Simon Harris: You would swear the Deputy was paying for the bus. The reality is that we are reducing wait times. We have opened up more ophthalmology capacity in the south west. The Deputy has pointed to additional capacity that exists in this jurisdiction that does not require anyone to be brought out of the jurisdiction. We will continue to do more to drive down waiting times.