Results 1,021-1,040 of 45,480 for speaker:Simon Harris

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Public Sector Pay (11 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: Secretaries General and equivalents are graded at a number of levels each of which has a separate rate of remuneration. The grading structure for Secretary General posts was reviewed on a number of occasions by the Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector. The final assessment of the grading of these posts by the Review Body in 2007 confirmed a three-tier grading structure,...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Departmental Expenditure (11 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: The table below outlines the overall expenditure relating to IT external service provision in 2023, 2024 and to date in 2025. The IT external service providers work closely with staff in my Department to design, develop, maintain and support secure ICT services for the Department of Defence. - 2023 € (Incl. VAT) 2024 € (Incl. VAT) 2025...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Weather Events (11 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I can confirm that the Defence Forces, through the GTF emergency responses mechanisms, received several requests for assistance from ESB in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn. The supports provided ranged from the provision of helicopter flights carrying ESB personnel in order to identify the extent of the affected network, the collection and distribution of generators from Dublin Airport to...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Ministerial Responsibilities (11 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: Mr. Thomas Byrne TD is the Minister of State at the Department of Defence. He is also Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Foreign Affairs with special responsibility for European Affairs. He was appointed by the Taoiseach to these separate roles on 29th January 2025. This Department has no attributable budget for the Minister of State as no formal...

Written Answers — Department of Defence: Weather Events (11 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: As the Deputy will appreciate the Defence Forces are not a primary response agency for non-security related emergencies. However, where requested the Defence Forces provides the fullest possible assistance to the appropriate Lead Department in the event of a natural disaster or emergency situation in its Aid to Civil Authority (ATCA) role. With regards to Storm Éowyn, the Defence...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I must say I agree with the Deputy. This is a bizarre situation where somebody over the age of 70 can drive kids in a private bus to the soccer or GAA game at the weekend but cannot drive them to school in a Bus Éireann bus. It is either safe or it is not safe and the inconsistency in relation to this is quite farcical and annoying at a time when we are trying to get more drivers. I...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: If the Deputy sends the details to my office I will engage immediately with the Minister for housing in relation to that matter.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy O'Meara and congratulate him on his election representing the people of Tipperary North. I wish him very well. The programme for Government contains a number of commitments in relation to this. The Deputy is right that housing is the biggest challenge that our country faces and it is the biggest priority that the Government intends to address. As he also rightly...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Geoghegan and congratulate him on his election to Dáil Éireann, representing the people of Dublin Bay South. I look forward to working closely with him. I want to thank him for the instrumental role he played in the Dublin city task force during his time as Lord Mayor and first citizen of Dublin. We have a really good piece of work now, with very clear...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: As the Deputy knows, I agree with him on this issue and I am supportive of this project. It could be a real enabler for the south-east region. The new Minister of State sitting beside me, Deputy Canney, is due to meet his officials in the coming days specifically on that issue. It is, as Deputy Cullinane fairly acknowledges, specifically referenced in the programme for Government. Once...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy O'Gorman and wish him well in his new role over on that side of the House. I am proud of the work we did together in the last Government in terms of supporting UNRWA when other countries, as the Deputy rightly says, withdrew their support. I acknowledge the role that the Taoiseach played in increasing the level of funding that we were providing to UNRWA. As recently as this...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for his inaugural comments in his new role as a TD for Wicklow-Wexford. I wish him well and look forward to working with him, being from the neighbouring constituency of Wicklow. He is right that the previous Government and our colleague, the former Minister, Stephen Donnelly, showed great leadership on the issue of vaping in bringing forward very important and...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I congratulate the Deputy on her election to the Dáil. I wish her well. She is right to highlight the issue of University Hospital Limerick. It is a major issue for her constituents and for people in the mid-west more broadly. I could quote figures showing the increased budget, the increased staffing and the increase in beds that have taken place, but I accept there is much more to...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Ó Fearghaíl. It is good to see him back in his role of advocating for his constituents in Kildare South. I join with him in expressing sympathy to the family of the Aga Khan on his passing, and to the community he led. The Minister, Deputy Heydon, and I discussed this only yesterday. Tributes have been led by our President and throughout the country in...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is not the first time that he has passionately raised the importance of the northern distributor road. The proposal was established in the Cork metropolitan area transport strategy, CMATS. It is seen as an absolutely essential or, in the words of the strategy, a "critical enabler" for its delivery. My understanding is that the road only...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: Those words were clearly anything but what the Deputy has termed them. As she has rightly said, if the Deputy reads the programme for Government, and she referenced it, it commits the Government to working with the sector through the mechanisms that are available to progress the issues. As I said to her colleague Deputy Kerrane when she raised this matter, we have seen the interim agreement...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I know it has been a source of huge frustration, annoyance and anger for people who want to know when this will become available. Budget 2025 announced the intention to fund the medicine cost of hormone replacement therapy products prescribed to women to help to manage the symptoms associated with all stages of menopause. This is for women who...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: Yes, we will provide that mandate. Deputy Kerrane is right to highlight this issue. These health and social care workers and others carry out an invaluable service. Our health, social care and disability services are so reliant on it. I would point out that we have made several advanced steps on this issue, including the October 2023 agreement the Deputy referenced. State agencies have...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Bacik. I agree with her comments regarding the dire humanitarian catastrophe. That phrase does not even capture the sense of destruction and loss of life, of home and of dignity that people have experienced in Gaza. I think all of us are united in working on that. I want to see what more the Government can do to help with the upscaling of humanitarian aid and assistance to...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this extraordinarily important issue. It is one we have worked on across the House during the last period of time, including publishing an ambitious domestic, sexual and gender-based violence strategy, which was led by my colleague, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and establishing a new agency, called Cuan, to drive this zero-tolerance approach. When I was the...