Simon Harris

Can I say something else? The Deputy had his time and I think the people deserve better than shouting and roaring. We cannot get through this global economic crisis if every week we come into this House-----

-----and the proposal is to abolish taxes and spend more. That is not a sustainable way through this. Abolishing taxes and spending more would not steer us-----

What I say to that person is we have her back. We put in one of the largest packages in the European Union.

We have reduced excise. They are benefiting from that at that pump. We have extended the fuel allowance and we will work through this together-----

-----while Sinn Féin refuses to condemn intimidation against gardaí this week. It refused to stand by-----

She did not but you refused and your leader refused-----

Time and time again, Sinn Féin refused to condemn the blockades. It is now in favour of blockades.

You are out of touch.

I thank Deputy Ahern for his question. I will reiterate my point that while there has been much discussion this week about various sectors that are vital to the Irish economy, whether they are farmers or fishers, hauliers or the likes, the fundamental point here is that this Government's package supports everybody because the PAYE worker and everybody else in this country needs food on the shelves…

At least your politics are honest in the sense that we can either agree or disagree on certain policy areas and you can criticise us and we can criticise you. You do not come into this House and constantly suggest the abolition of significantly important taxes and come up with a load of new spending ideas at the same time. That is not a sustainable position. It was very interesting earlier in the …

Deputy Doherty, you had your go. It is their time.

This week the Sinn Féin Party took to social media to criticise Labour and the Social Democrats. I thought that was pretty pathetic.

Come on, Pearse, give everybody a chance in this House. No bully-boy tactics, please. We support the Critical Infrastructure Bill. We will be happy to tease through the detail of it. The Deputy is right in that there are lots of factors involved. At times, environmental law can be a factor when there are projects we need to deliver at real speed. This is not about all projects; it is about those t…

We have to acknowledge that real wages in this country are rising. We also have to acknowledge that we made very significant increases, quite rightly, in the disability budget this year, albeit with a big focus on service provision. Those increases totalled over €600 million. The Government is committed to the introduction of a cost-of-disability payment and a lot of very good work is being done b…

The Deputy used the term “disruptive protest”. I will not speak for Deputy, but I will say that I do not support the blockade of critical infrastructure or the idea that someone can tell me whether I can move freely around this country. I do not support some of the comments online last night from the so-called self-appointed leaders that if anyone on these benches on this side of the Chamber atten…

I thank Deputy Gogarty for raising this matter. I am grateful to have the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, beside my for some local knowledge on some of these issues. I was in Clonburris not that long ago. I will get to some of the infrastructural challenges but I must say, being honest, that I was pleased to see the number and quality of homes being built and the partnership model that seems to…

I do not doubt the Deputy’s green credentials, in fairness. The Deputy makes a fair point. All of this is always a balance. We are in a housing emergency but the point is that we want people to move into those houses and for them to become homes. Practical requirements about where people park their cars are not issues that should be dismissed. The Deputy’s community is, perhaps, a good example or …

I thank the Deputy very much for her questions. I know from our engagement to date on a variety of issues and her own professional background that she is data driven in terms of the questions that puts down in this House and, indeed, in the discussions that we had around the programme for Government. I thank her for that because what she is raising today, as she rightly said, is a commitment in th…

I appreciate that. That has always been my experience in dealing with the Deputy. Politics is about a number of things. One of them is that we are here representing our constituents and bringing forward the issues and what we hear. Second, we are obligated to do a bit more than just diagnosing the problem as the Deputy has gone further in her questions to begin to explore what the solutions look l…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I heard Peter Hughes, who the Deputy referenced, on the radio this morning. The Government is very happy to engage with him and the union he represents. The note available to me is that the use of the beds in Fairview was intended to be a short-term measure while other CAMHS beds were temporarily closed. There were always limitations around the …

There is some logic in that. My notes suggest it is not a question of like for like in terms of the beds but let me check further.

Absolutely. I thank Deputy Kenny for raising this issue and for raising the word "reform". If we are to have - as we are having - an honest discussion about special needs education, reform will have to be part of that. We cannot have a system that is designed around the system rather than around the child. We are constantly, quite rightly, opening more classes and more schools - we should, we must…

I condemn outright the actions of Israel and the actions of Hezbollah. Israel is breaching, in my view and the view of the Government, international law. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, has been extremely vocal on this and is working with European counterparts. She has joined a number of statements and the likes speaking very clearly in relation to our foreign policy position around this. We must al…

I thank Deputy Ward for raising this matter. He raised it with me in the House relatively recently, as he rightly should. I gave him the latest update then. I believed that process was drawing to a conclusion. I do not have any further information today but I will make sure the Minister, Deputy Browne, comes back to him on the timeline for the conclusion of that and any contact we have had with th…

I thank Deputy Collins for raising this matter. I will ask the relevant Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to consider his request for a meeting. From a factual point of view, the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 sets out changes in relation to not accepting new applications for petroleum authorisations or for future petroleum exploration licensing rounds. There are a number …