Simon Harris

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue and I thank Mick Finnegan for his incredible advocacy on this issue. He has been in Leinster House on many occasions because of his advocacy work. I sincerely thank him for that. I will speak directly to the Minister involved and I will come back to the Deputy.

It was on this date in 1919 that the First Dáil met for only the third time. It was an historic day, with the confirmation of a new Ceann Comhairle and the election of a new President of the Dáil, then Éamon de Valera. It also led to the creation of a new Government, and Ireland's second Ministry was formed, with the likes of Michael Collins, Arthur Griffith, W.T. Cosgrave, Constance Markievicz, C…

I want to put on the record of this House that it was also in good faith that we engaged constructively and respectfully in government formation talks with both the Labour Party and the Social Democrats, and I thank them for that engagement. I do not believe there are policy differences which we were not prepared to negotiate on, but obviously I respect the decisions of both these parties to not e…

We must work together-----

Before the Deputies shout at me, maybe they should wait to hear my next sentence, because I was about to say that I think and hope many in the Opposition share this view, that we should work together on the big issues of our time. We should work together on housing and on disability services.

That is what the public want to see. Shout me down if you wish, but that is what the public want.

You are.

It is time to listen to listen to each other. It is time to work in the best interests of the people who send us here and pay your wages and mine.

To meet the goals that we share, we must have a strong - it is not sounding great for cross-party co-operation, but anyway - and stable economy. We stand here this afternoon on the precipice of a moment of extraordinary economic turbulence globally. We had a report last week from the ESRI, which estimated more than 80,000 jobs in the Irish economy could be at risk. There are people who got up thi…

-----but debating a confidence motion. Do not shout me down, again. Stop now.

We are debating a confidence motion, one which everybody inside and outside this House knows will only have one outcome.

We know Sinn Féin has a record of putting party interests before national interest. I am sorry to see other Opposition parties going down that same populist route.

At a time of crisis, this national parliament has a duty to show leadership to the country. I recall the unity we have found in this House in moments of crisis and economic challenge. We came together and pulled together during Covid-19 and the Brexit times. The context we now face is a potential global trade war, which will not be without consequence for Ireland. I have every confidence that this…

-----and we need to push in one direction. I want to work with everybody on all sides of this House. There is no monopoly on good ideas. We need constructive ideas and proposals. I firmly believe that every politician who puts his or her name on a ballot paper and got elected to this House deserves to have his or her voice heard. Deciding to enter public life is not easy; it means long hours, tim…

Calm down, again.

The Ceann Comhairle then oversaw a subsequent debate for 20 hours at a Dáil reform committee. A proposal was put to a vote at the committee. It was approved by a majority, which is how democracy works.

This time, the Opposition-----

This time, the Opposition did not like the result. What did it do? It comes for the Ceann Comhairle's head. This is straight out of a populist playbook. If you do not like the answer, attack a person's integrity and motive, and inevitably seek his or her head. Fine Gael has had differences with the Ceann Comhairle over the years - they are well documented - and I am sure we will again. However, we…

I thank Deputy Ó Laoghaire and I join him in extending the sympathies of everyone in this House and everyone in this country to the people of Myanmar and Thailand after the horrific earthquake and the devastation it has caused. My Department has moved swiftly on behalf of the Irish people to provide €6 million in emergency assistance as part of the international effort. Of course this country stan…

I thank Deputy Ó Laoghaire. I assure him there is no change in the Government’s position on engaging with the US or anywhere else. I have spoken to the Taoiseach about the conversations and understand that he reiterated the programme for Government commitment to introducing legislation in this area. I agree with the Deputy that international law does matter and that is why Ireland has joined the I…

As the Deputy suggested, I am happy to tease through and debate those issues when we publish and introduce legislation. I do want to engage with Senator Black. I have been in contact with her directly in recent days and look forward to meeting her on the issue next Tuesday. Of course, I would much rather be in a position in which we could in this House say the ceasefire is holding, the hostages ha…

I thank Deputy Smith and his party for the constructive suggestion on engagement across parties in this House. Let me assure him at the outset regarding what is likely to be a very turbulent time. While there is no doubt that there will be moments of agreement, disagreement, suggestions and whatever else, we should continue to have a good flow of information across the Oireachtas. I certainly comm…

The most important thing we can all do in Ireland and the EU, and indeed around the world, is to stay calm and measured. Often after a headline announcement by the US Administration, you have to work through the detail. Given that the misinformation has started, we need to make the point very clearly that Europe does not want tariffs but talks. We want representatives of the European Union and the…

Those are very fair questions. Obviously, we will hear the announcement tomorrow. We will all have to assess it and respond in a calm and measured way. I will be continuing calls with EU counterparts tomorrow. I have spoken to my counterparts in Finland, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Slovakia and Croatia in very recent days, including today, and I will have a call with the EU trade Commissioner. I will…

I thank Deputy Ó Laoghaire and he is entirely right. Calls for a ceasefire are being undermined by one party and that party is the aggressor. It is Putin and Russia. There are two presidents involved in this; President Zelenskyy has said he will accept without precondition a 30-day ceasefire to try to get into a process to bring about a lasting and enduring just peace. As recently as today, Putin …