Results 1,061-1,080 of 45,281 for speaker:Simon Harris

Ceisteanna - Questions: Climate Action Plan (23 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: I will answer that as well because the Deputy gave me a petition on it from many of our constituents, and it is an important issue. I acknowledge the Deputy's good work on it and the meeting we had with the Delgany community council. I will work with the Deputy and the National Parks and Wildlife Service to see if we can make progress on that issue. While it is a local Wicklow issue, it is...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Climate Action Plan (23 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: Our report card, was it?

Ceisteanna - Questions: Climate Action Plan (23 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: I have outlined the progress we have made on climate change, accepting there is a lot more we need to do in the time ahead.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (23 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 to 13, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on children and education and disability oversees programme for Government commitments relating to children, education and disability and receives detailed reports on identified policy areas such as child poverty and well-being, education and the reform of disability services. Disability services are a...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Climate Action Plan (23 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 2 to 6, inclusive, together. The Cabinet committee on the environment and climate action oversees implementation of the ambitious programme for Government commitments in environment and climate change, including the implementation of the climate action plan. The committee has met on 22 occasions since July 2020, most recently on 10 June. The...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (23 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: I met the Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk, in Poland on Thursday, 5 September following my visit to Kyiv in Ukraine. I took the opportunity to thank the President, as the former President of the European Council, for his enormous solidarity, personal commitment and support to Ireland during the process of Brexit. We discussed bilateral relations between Ireland and Poland as well as...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (23 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: I met with the Prime Minister.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (23 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: I will start with Deputy Boyd Barrett's questions as it is a very important issue. We decided at Government a couple of weeks ago that Ireland would opt in to this initiative to try to help get some of the very sickest children out of Gaza to receive life-altering, and often life-saving, medical procedures. I thank the Deputy for bringing the case of the paediatricians to my attention. I...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (23 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: I will. I do not want to bluff on this. I need to get on top of it, but I will certainly look at it in light of what the Deputy said. The general approach we should take on European matters is we should never be out of kilter with what seems to be the norm. If the Deputy is saying we are taking an approach that is very different from many other States, that would be a concern for me. I...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (23 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I will speak to the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and ask that she speaks to the Garda in Limerick. I join with the Deputy in thanking gardaí for the work they do in Limerick, while also accepting that supporting and resourcing them is key and core. That is what we want to do. Limerick is one of the areas that has the roll-out of body cams for...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (23 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: I am in favour of the Waterford Airport development. I know there is frustration in Waterford. I thank the Deputy for raising the issue regarding a decision. I will seek an update from the Minister for Transport. My understanding is that the business case is with him for consideration. In my view, there is a very compelling case in respect of Waterford Airport. That is a strongly held...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (23 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: The Deputy will remember the issues in this regard over the summer months. The Government has decided to proceed with this tax because it is important, and the Deputy shares this view, that in a housing crisis there is not any land hoarding. To his point, it is also important that the tax needs to be implemented in a fair manner. There is a difference between land hoarding and people who...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (23 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue following her meeting with the group at Emyvale. I know the importance of this. She is right to say that there is a lot of unmet need, when it comes to day and weekend respite for children. We are all working to come up with innovative solutions. The one the Deputy outlined sounds like a very innovative solution. I had the honour of...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (23 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: I sincerely acknowledge the Deputy's work and his strength of feeling on this. Even though we do not always agree on every element of it, I fully acknowledge he is motivated by a sense of wanting to save lives and help people. I thank him for the work he has done on that. The first thing I will do is read the report, which I have not done. All of us, during the general election, need...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (23 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: I do not doubt the seriousness of the issue the Deputy raised. I just do not have the details to hand nor am I sure about the appropriateness of commenting on the floor of the House. However, if the Deputy wants to correspond with me on the matter, I will certainly undertake to pass it on to the relevant parties.

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (23 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: I try not to quote the Gospels but I take HIQA reports seriously. They are an important indication and are there for a very good reason. I have not yet seen that HIQA report but I will look at it now the Deputy has brought it to my attention. We have provided very significant additional funding to the Saolta Hospital Group for 2025. We are at the point of asking what the impact is in...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (23 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: I am very grateful to the task force I established for launching its report on Monday. It is a really good blueprint for Dublin. I expect the interdepartmental group to be established without delay as in within days and that it will report to the Government in the middle of December with a three-year action plan for moving those recommendations forward. The figure of 1,000 gardaí is a...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (23 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: That is a very sensible suggestion and I assure him it is one we are going to act on. The challenge is the issue of forward planning and better co-ordinating. I see a number of schools with multiple application processes in my constituency and I imagine it is very similar in Kildare. This leads to a child being on many lists. This is not to blame the parents, who are doing their best....

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (23 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: I will check the data. I do not doubt the Deputy's data but I do not have the data in front of me. I know Garda numbers overall are back in a position where we can make real progress because Templemore is finally effectively full. A new class is coming out every 12 weeks. We have provided significant funding for up to 1,000 more gardaí over the next 12 months and I have no doubt...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (23 Oct 2024)

Simon Harris: I do not accept that characterisation at all. Of course, it is hard to cost the locations that Deputy McDonald would secure for migrant accommodation because she will not tell us where they are. She keeps telling us where she is against and what she is against when it comes to the migration debate, but she has yet to tell us where she believes any site should be located. I look forward to...