Results 1,801-1,820 of 45,281 for speaker:Simon Harris

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of Newpark School of Music. I am pleased that there will be time in the Dáil for a topical issue debate on it tomorrow. The Deputy has been constructive in flagging it with me today and I will certainly ask, in advance of that debate, relevant line Ministers and agencies to see what role the State may have in this, in order to be able to give...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I will get him a specific answer from the Minister for Transport on this but the Government is very eager to take steps to increase the number of taxis and hackneys available nationally, particularly in rural areas. For a variety of reasons, these steps have not yielded the numbers so further actions are planned and some are under way. I...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy. This is a great initiative. It is great for the island of Ireland, for the north west in particular, for medical education and for opportunities for young people. The Minister for further and higher education is in Ulster University, on the Magee campus in Derry, today. We are willing to expand this. Obviously, there has to be two partners and a willingness to do it,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: I am sure what the Deputy definitely does not tell Seán is that if Sinn Féin was in government it would get rid of the help-to-buy scheme for first-time buyers-----

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: -----and the first home scheme as well. I am sure he did not mention that to Seán. It is very hard to comment on the floor of the Dáil without knowing people's specific financial situations but this Government is seeing, every week, 500 people buying their first home. Every working day we are seeing 350 new homes being built. That is the progress we are making. That is what I...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: -----I would be very happy to come back to him with more comprehensive reply for his situation.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for making that important point for his constituents in north Cork in terms of access to GP services. I will certainly discuss the matter with the Minister for Health and the HSE. We are now seeing a very significant increase in the number of training places for GPs. We are also now looking at other pathways that we can put in place in universities but I do recognise...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for his constructive suggestions with which I agree. I am very clear, and I said it on the day that I launched the Dublin city centre task force, that this is going to come back with a list of practical actions and a list of responsible owners for those actions. Then there will be a requirement for government, both national and local, to fund those initiatives. This is...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: I am trying to be agreeable on this because the Deputy raises valid and important points about road safety and we want to build a political and societal consensus around road safety which is a major issue. I have a point of difference with the Deputy to TV adverts. There is behavioural science that shows the importance of those impactful ads. Everybody in this House and anybody watching...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is one that has been brought to my attention in this House in recent weeks by her colleagues and colleagues on the Government benches. I am happy for my office to make arrangements in the coming weeks to have that meeting. I am also happy to ask the Minister for Social Protection to perhaps join me at that meeting as well. I have a note on the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. To the very best of my knowledge, the plan is to publish that plan this week. Let me confirm that. It would be timely, subject to the agreement of the House, to have a debate on climate, the EPA report and the new national plan the Minister will publish and submit to Europe to fulfil our requirements. The EPA will acknowledge that it has not yet...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: We have every plan and intention and as you said it is a legally binding target. That is why a debate in this House would be timely on that. While I accept we have a gap to close, any fair analysis of the EPA report would show that we are now on track to reduce emissions by almost 30%. Prior to this Government, we were increasing our emissions by 10% a year. To the credit of sectors of...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: You did.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy and as he will appreciate, the €3 million was the first time we provided this model of funding to the alliance. I have met many of these organisations and I know many of them in my own county. I have met a number of these organisations around the country and the funding was welcomed as an important step. I accept it is a first step. I accept the organisations...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. At the outset, as we approach another bank holiday weekend, I am sure everyone in this House will join in calling for people to be very conscious of driver behaviour on the roads this weekend. I will get to the Deputy's direct point in a moment. Let me actually get to it now because I agree with the Deputy to a point. I definitely agree that...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: There is sometimes a difference in the classification of disability across the EU but that does not take from the broader point the Deputy made about our participation rates of people with a disability in the workforce not being where they need to be. At a time of full employment, we need to address areas of underemployment where people with a disability would like to access the workforce....

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Lowry for raising this really important matter. As he started speaking, I was reminded of a delegation he brought to see me many years ago, when I was Minister for Health, from the Circle of Friends group in Tipperary town. He will remember that at time, the late, great Sarah Gleeson came to see me with Jennifer Jones Hickey and others, and I think of Sarah and her family...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: Yes, and let us talk about it.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: The Deputy must not be a sensitive soul. When I talk about holding her to account for what she said, it is not insulting. I would never insult her. I have great respect for her as a person, but this is what she said about the budget. That is what she said and I can only judge her on the figures she produces and so can the Irish people. I want to motorists to know that, as a Government,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (29 May 2024)

Simon Harris: We are keeping it under review and will make those decisions and continue to keep it under review. However, I am glad the Deputy has also referenced the issue of child poverty today. Child poverty is a really important issue, and we need to do more, but let us look at our record versus Sinn Féin's. In the last budget we extended child benefit, benefitting 60,000 more children. Sinn...