Simon Harris

Respectfully, Ministers not being held to account is baloney. We had a budget oversight committee meeting the other day. In fairness, the Deputy was at it, he contributed and he asked all his questions. Others did not bother turning up. The meeting ended 40 minutes early. The Minister, Deputy Chambers, and I were there looking for questions to take, and the Chairman-----

I just want to be clear. The budget oversight committee met. The Minister, Deputy Chambers, and I were there to answer every and any question anybody wanted to ask, and it ended with 40 minutes to spare, which the Chairman then filled.

It does not matter who did not turn up.

People can come back in with further questions as well. There were 40 minutes of unallocated time there. We are very accountable to this Oireachtas, and I want people at home to know that. I also want people to know that the rising of the Dáil has nothing to do with this at all because these are figures that will affect 2027, when there will be a significant opportunity. We will have a summer eco…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. It is good to see his colleague Deputy Ennis settling in well beside him. I think I have been in touch to arrange to meet them. I will be meeting them in June. The Taoiseach has also met them, as have the Minister, Deputy Foley, and the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins. When I say "them", I mean the Before We Die group. I thank them for their w…

I am going to commit to meeting the group in June. I am happy to engage further with the Deputy on this matter after that. This is an interesting area in respect of which extra funding is 100% required but where monitoring the impact of that funding on the systems in place also matters. For example, we are increasing respite funding by €25 million this year. We are also increasing funding for home…

What was definitely not on my bingo card for 2026 was Aontú quoting Friends of the Earth, but politics throws new things at you every day. The issue relating to the cost of electricity and the energy crisis in Ireland is a serious one. That is why this Government, through the Minister, Deputy Calleary, is expanding the fuel allowance. We extended the allowance for a further month in order to help…

The Deputy is ignoring the point I am making. It sounds very good in short clips and sound bites, but the reality is that he is ignoring the economic benefit of the data centres. He is ignoring the economic benefit in terms-----

I am sorry. Deputy Tóibín is giving Deputy Lawless a chance today.

He is giving him a chance today.

I did not think that the weekend went so badly for Deputy Tóibín that he has had a leadership heave against him. Anyway, he should give the man a chance.

The rules are that the Deputy asks the question and I get a chance to answer it. For people sitting at home, I want to outline the reality of the situation. Aontú, on behalf of Friends of the Earth, is suggesting that data centres are costing all of this money. That ignores the fact that I put on the record of the House the economic analysis available to me, as Minister of Finance, in terms of th…

I want to say this. The Friends of the Earth report will be considered. That report says things the Deputy did not mention. It concedes that under the high renewable growth scenario, we actually see a situation where accelerated renewables are presented as sufficient to displace significant reliance on gas. The message the Deputy should have taken from the report is that we need to accelerate the …

I thank the Deputy for the question on housing and how we give our young people hope in terms of the ability to own or indeed in some cases to build their own home. I do not say this in any way disrespectfully to the Deputy but taxes are an important part of funding the State and we cannot just reduce or abolish them all. We have taken a number of measures recently to reduce the cost of constructi…

I always believe in an honest debate around migration but the honest debate has to be grounded in facts. People who arrive in Ireland from abroad through a variety of circumstances do not have an automatic right to social housing. The Deputy knows that too and he knows that in Kerry as well. People from Ukraine contribute very significantly to our economy as well. Obviously, they do have the right…

Please do not heckle me on this because we have to be respectful when we debate these issues. The Government is making a number of changes in relation to Ukrainian accommodation and some of the issues highlighted by the Deputy because, in our view, we do need to make the model sustainable because we want to be able to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes. The emergency approach that we have …

I join with the Deputy in congratulating and commending Jordan and Cian Adams. They have inspired literally the entire country with 33 marathons across our island. I know many of us look forward to welcoming them to Leinster House later today but, more important or as important, is working with them on the issues around dementia, research and care pathways. I thank them for all they have done. I …

The Friends of the Earth report needs to be read in the round. It does basically put it up to us, as a Government and an Oireachtas, that if we can do more to speed up the move to renewables, under what it calls high renewable growth scenarios, annual average residual demand, including data centres actually falls below zero in the years ahead. In other words, accelerated renewable development is …

I thank Deputy Rice for raising this. The Minister for Health and the wider Government expect the agreed terms of any contract to be applied fully and consistently across all hospitals. We expect everybody to comply with the terms of their contract of employment. That is a general basic thing, and just because somebody is a higher paid member of the public service does not mean they can deviate fr…

I thank Deputy Ward for raising this issue. I send my sincere sympathy and solidarity to his constituent and their family for all they have endured. The point Deputy Ward makes about being able to see the detail is an important one. I understand why any homeowner may wish to see a report from an engineer in order to really understand the rationale behind the option being recommended or proposed. T…

There are a couple of aspects to that question. In respect of balanced regional development, the new national planning statement in relation to the ability to build a one-off home in rural Ireland will be a help. That is because there are many people finding themselves having to leave their communities due to a too-rigid planning system or at least an inconsistent application of the planning syste…

I fully agree with Deputy McGrath in terms of the importance of reopening the application process. I am pleased to tell him that will happen. The Government will be in contact with schools today and the portal will reopen early next week. We have seen an increased number of primary schools, post-primary schools and special schools applying this year. I see that as a good thing in terms of trying t…

I thank Deputy Roche. He did indeed speak with me on this issue yesterday. I am pleased that the Government has decided that the portal will reopen in the coming days to provide a better window for schools to apply. This Government's record on special education and children with additional needs is one of investment and growth. There were 8,767 children benefiting from the summer programme in 2016…

I thank Deputy O'Rourke for highlighting this issue. I also wish to acknowledge the point that he made the point that sometimes delays can be on the side of the company. That is an important point of balance to make. I do not actually have the detail in relation to this but it is important that everybody in the process work in an efficient way so that we at least get a decision and clarity as ear…

I thank an Teachta Daly for raising this issue and I will certainly speak directly to the Minister of education on this. There was discussion earlier around the additional budget for education. One of the drivers behind that is the recognition that there will be a need for more special classes now than was even envisaged at budget time. If there is a school ready to assist in that and if there is …