Now that the Government of Ireland has done that, we will decide how best to populate the office, process matters - I want to understand the processes followed regarding key personnel - and we will then address all those matters and put this together.
TDs / Simon Harris
0
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Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them
566,209
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Plus 2,685 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
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- constituency Wicklow 29 November 2024 to now
- office Taoiseach 29 November 2024 to 22 January 2025
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That is the appropriate way. Of course, people who do a job will be paid a salary but this not about personalities.
In the first instance, this is about getting things right. Speculation in the media is not how we do things in government. We will bring forward proposals, we will tease them through-----
-----and we will consider them. That is exactly what we will do in the hours and days ahead and we will get this right-----
-----with a housing activation office to break down silos. Getting the right people in place is also important.
I thank Deputy Bacik for that. I also wish everyone a happy International Workers' Day. I would like to acknowledge the incredible work done by workers right across our country in the public service and in the private sector, as well as the many people who work here in Leinster House to help our democracy function on a daily basis. Objectively, it is fair to say a lot of positive measures have been taken, as the Depu…
I assure Deputy Bacik the Government is unified in wanting to support our workers and economy and wanting to protect their jobs too. I agree low paid workers and workers in this country are certainly not responsible for the many turbulent challenges the global economy faces and the impact that may have on Ireland.
We are very lucky to live in a country where our union movement was very constructive in its engagement…
I thank Deputy Murphy. I do not believe anybody can credibly suggest that this Government is anti-worker. In fact, there are many more workers in this country as a result of this Government's and successive governments' efforts to create jobs in every town, village and city throughout our island. To have workers, you need to have jobs. There are many more people in employment. Many of us remember days in this House w…
It is not that anybody is breaching the minimum wage; it is that we have a tiered system of minimum wage in this country. The Deputy and I have different views on that but people are following the minimum wage. It is just tiered and applies differently to different people in different age brackets. That is the system that we have had in place. After the Deputy goes into that café and outlines his view to the café own…
We support young people in so many ways. I found myself having to shout at the radio the other day about broken promises in relation to statutory sick pay. Read the Fine Gael manifesto. We were very clear during the general election in relation to five days of statutory sick pay. It is there; it is in black and white. We made it clear to people. There was no statutory sick pay scheme two years ago. There is now. Ther…
I thank the Deputy. I was taking in a lot of figures there; I appreciate that the Deputy has done a lot of work on this. The purpose of the Deputy's question is largely around the issue of carbon tax. On the issue of speed limits, it is about trying to get it right. It is about recognising - we all share this view - that far too many people die on Irish roads. Being very honest, the progress we had made is now at bes…
I know it.
I often say that we need more common sense in our politics. The problem is that common sense is a subjective concept. There is common sense in collecting revenue through a carbon tax and in specifically doing what we have committed to in our programme for Government. In a very honest and an upfront way, the programme for Government states that we are going to continue to use carbon tax revenues to fund: social welfar…
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta. I thank Deputy Heneghan for the question and for raising these two issues regarding the Irish language, particularly the school in his constituency, Gaelcholáiste Reachrann, and also Foras na Gaeilge and its funding. Let me address both of them. I hear and understand the Deputy's frustration but as he knows, this school is going to be a very large-scale capital project. The aim is to…
The Deputy was certainly very clear in his question, in case I did not understand it the first time. I know the Minister intends to visit and she will be happy to work with the Deputy and colleagues in Dublin Bay North with regard to arranging that. I certainly want to assure all the students and staff there, who I know have been waiting a long time as I have heard this raised in the Dáil for a quite a time, that thi…
I cannot say much more. I was quite clear.
I thank Deputy Doherty. He is right with regard to making sure people can be assisted with the cost of living but I would point out this Government has taken a number of measures, and that wages in Ireland are now growing ahead of inflation. We have taken action with regard to reducing childcare costs. That is just one example. We have made school books free and provided free school meals, measures that really help m…
I thank Deputy Sheehan and assure him the Government is getting along very well, and Ministers are active and busy in a whole range of areas. If there have not been sightings of different Ministers together - I will have to inquire into that - it is probably because they have been too busy doing their jobs. We are at one with regard to the need to establish a housing activation office. I very much welcome the plans b…
He can bring forward his proposals and we will consider them.
Nothing like that has happened at all. The Government has established a housing activation office. We would be delighted to constructively engage with the Deputy and all of the Opposition in terms of how this office can work effectively. We have all seen the need to break down silos, second people and bring in expertise. We should not be referring to people outside the House by their surnames and calling people tsars…
The Minister, Deputy Calleary, tells me he intends to engage directly with the Minister, Deputy Browne, on planning guidelines specifically for the Gaeltacht. I will ask the Minister to engage directly with the Deputy in regard to her feedback on the issue.
The Government and I share the Deputy's view on what we are seeing in terms of the stopping of aid getting into Gaza. It is despicable and it is causing untold harm, to put it very mildly. One cannot find the words to capture how horrific the situation is in Gaza. I thank the Deputy for his comments regarding the Government's intervention on behalf of Ireland at the ICJ. I assure him that our work continues. We recen…
I fully agree with the Deputy's description of what needs to happen. The word "partnership" is really important. We have such good examples of childcare providers across the country. We also have significant gaps in provision. I meet people who are frustrated when they hear we have reduced the cost of childcare. They say, "That is great but I cannot get a place". Cost and access, along, of course, with quality, reall…
I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of pedestrian safety and the need for the Government to make sure we adequately fund and provide support to local authorities for that purpose. In recent years, there have been a number of initiatives, including the walking to school programme, where there has been a real effort to make walking routes safer, particularly for schoolchildren and others. I certainly wil…
I thank Deputy Cahill very much. I agree with him that Skellig Michael is such a beautiful treasure and an amazing place. I share his view that it is so important to support the maintenance and protection of what is a UNESCO heritage site and also to examine how we can assist tourists in getting there in an appropriate way. Therefore, I will certainly speak to the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Boxer Moran, on the i…