Results 1,501-1,520 of 46,232 for speaker:Simon Harris

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Military Neutrality (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I agree with Deputy Connolly. We should and do continue to champion the UN and champion reform of the UN. I fully agree with that. I am a huge believer in international law and the workings of the United Nations. At a time when that is under threat from others who are looking inwards and do not believe in multilateralism, we should be even louder in our promotion. I do not disagree on...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Military Neutrality (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: The Deputy must not have been listening. I will give them again in a second.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Military Neutrality (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I gave them to him; does he want them again? They were: the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force in 1999; in 2015 the Mediterranean operation known as Operation Sophia; the Maritime Analysis Operations Centre (Narcotics) mission operation; and a UN authorisation for EUFOR Operation Althea in Bosnia Herzegovina that we nearly had to miss out on too. These are the examples.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy. I agree with some of what he said. It certainly would be factual to say that the Reserve Defence Force went through a rocky period in terms of recruitment and retention. This was through no fault of its own. We have been working in line with the commission on the Defence Forces to get that to a much better place. I acknowledge the Deputy's welcoming some of the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: To be clear, the target in terms of what the effective strength of our Reserve Defence Force should be remains the same. We do not disagree on that figure in terms of where we need to get to. When the regeneration and development plan was published in July 2024, one of the four operational objectives was to get us to that effective strength of at least 80% by 2028. If we were to map out...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Military Neutrality (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 9, 15, 44 and 45 together. I reject the Deputy's assertion. That will not come as any surprise to him. As set out in the programme for Government, this Government intends to reform the legislation relating to the triple lock also ensuring that amendments to it are in keeping with our values and our policy of military neutrality. I might be shouting into...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: Yes, there have been. Consistently, for years, there have been efforts by Irish diplomats and our permanent representative in the UN. Every Irish Government for many years has put forward the idea that the UN Security Council needs to be reformed. As recently as last week, I was articulating this in international fora. We should be clear on this. The proposals to amend the triple lock...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Wall very much for raising this issue and the issue of the Curragh Camp, which he knows well. I, too, appreciate the historical importance of the Curragh Camp to many members of the Defence Forces and their families. I am sympathetic to the sense of attachment many serving and former members of the Defences Forces have to the camp. It is no longer a location where...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Wall for raising this matter. I share his view that the Curragh is the jewel in the crown. There is a particular affinity and connection felt by many serving and former members of the Defence Forces and their families. I hope to visit the Curragh in the coming days. I would be delighted if Deputy Wall could join me when I do that. We can engage with people on the ground....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I very much look forward to it too. Deputy Wall is right because not only is the Curragh, to use his phrase, the jewel in the crown from a Defence Forces point of view and a valuable resource for the Defence Forces, but more broadly it is also an incredible resource for the people of Kildare and Ireland. If we look at some of what we have managed to achieve together as a country in recent...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Ó Laoghaire for raising this issue. As he rightly said, there is huge potential in further expanding the Reserve Defence Force and the already incredible work done by its members. I remain committed to bolstering the numbers in the Reserve Defence Force. I am very much aware that the ability to increase its strength is fundamental to the regeneration of the force. The...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Air Corps (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I want to reflect on what Deputy Ó Laoghaire has said to me today, and what he conveyed to me by email on behalf of ACCAS last night. I say this without prejudice or conflation with any other ongoing issues, be they issues before the courts or issues that will rightly be examined by the tribunal in terms of how complaints are handled. The point Deputy Ó Laoghaire is making is that...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Air Corps (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: Yes.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Air Corps (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I will take advice on this. Generally I like to engage in politics and in public life. I will take advice on this because I am conscious of being a defendant in legal proceedings. I will check this, and if it is possible to find a mechanism or a way to do this I am certainly open to it. I am very conscious of the sensitivities around this and the realities for people's health and lives...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Gibney for this important and timely question. I have absolutely no doubt that as this issue goes through the Houses and draft legislation gets published there will quite rightly be a lot of debate and scrutiny. There should be time and space to get it right. I hope Deputy Gibney accepts my bona fides, because it is my genuine view, that I value Irish military neutrality....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I would like to see the Security Council reformed. I have said this at the Security Council, at the Munich security conference at the G20 last week. The Security Council urgently needs to be reformed but I cannot imagine Putin or others being open to this. We have to deal with the reality of a Security Council that in my view does not function the way it should and is badly in need of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for this important question. I want him, the men and women of Óglaigh na hÉireann and the people of Ireland to know that as Minister for Defence, I am deeply committed to the transformation of the Defence Forces into a modern, fit-for-purpose organisation to defend the State and meet the challenges of today and the future. Across Europe, all countries...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: I have given a timeline for when we expect to reach LOA2, namely, by 2028. I will work constructively with the Deputy on this to see if there is potential to accelerate this process. That will be a matter for engagement with Government colleagues, the Taoiseach and the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. We are taking action on this and any objective examination of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Defence Forces (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: We will map that out in terms of the progress we need to make between now and 2028. The figures show that last year was the first year in a long time that we saw stabilisation and very small growth, which I do not overrate, in the number of men and women in our Defence Forces. We expect to see this trend continue. Let us look at this in the round. The budget increased each year from 2020...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Air Corps (26 Feb 2025)

Simon Harris: There is often time for argy-bargy in the House but I want to acknowledge the constructive way the Deputy has engaged with me and my office in passing on the views and concerns of ACCAS. I will endeavour to also engage on this constructively in return. The health and well-being of the men and women working in the Air Corps and the wider Defence Forces is of the utmost priority for me, both...