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 attends an agricultural s…
TDs / Simon Harris
0
questions asked
Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them
566,209
words spoken in the chamber
566,201 as a minister, 8 as a TD
140
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
Members of the Government answer parliamentary questions rather than ask them, so this page lists none of theirs.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Contributions to debates 2,972 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Contributions |
|---|---|
| December 2024 | 4 |
| January 2025 | 4 |
| February 2025 | 255 |
| March 2025 | 42 |
| April 2025 | 83 |
| May 2025 | 249 |
| June 2025 | 175 |
| July 2025 | 144 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 79 |
| October 2025 | 214 |
| November 2025 | 347 |
| December 2025 | 192 |
| January 2026 | 97 |
| February 2026 | 197 |
| March 2026 | 187 |
| April 2026 | 226 |
| May 2026 | 119 |
| June 2026 | 127 |
| July 2026 | 93 |
| August 2026 | 2 |
| September 2026 | 83 |
| October 2026 | 53 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 2,685 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Wicklow 29 November 2024 to now
- office Taoiseach 29 November 2024 to 22 January 2025
- party Fine Gael 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister for Defence 23 January 2025 to 25 March 2025
- office Minister for Foreign Affairs 23 January 2025 to 25 March 2025
- office Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade 26 March 2025 to 18 November 2025
- office Minister for Defence 26 March 2025 to 18 November 2025
- office Minister for Finance 18 November 2025 to now
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 exist – certainly f…
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 case study for Gover…
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 the programme for Gove…
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 like and how can we c…
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 beds. I do not say t…
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 and we will. We are…
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 also condemn Hezbollah…
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 the European Commissio…
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 of existing licences…
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta. I thank him for raising this issue, which is a growing issue in a number of constituencies. Perhaps his constituency is very prominent in that considering the volume of homes and apartments built and the number of multi-unit developments in place. Of course, that is very welcome but it means we need to put ourselves under pressure to keep the laws of the land and the regulatory struc…
I thank Deputy Brennan for raising this issue with the usual passion, empathy and decency he brings to all matters on the floor of the Dáil. Our colleague the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, who is present, is working with the Deputy on this. I will certainly work with him on it, too.
We are all thinking of Eimear. We send our very best wishes to her and her family. None of us can even begin to imagine how diffic…
I thank Deputy Kenny very much for raising the issue concerning St. Cecilia's School. It is absolutely the position of the Government that it is a matter of providing appropriate school places. The Government has shown that through investing in special schools. There was a view in the past, perhaps, that everybody could be mainstreamed. That is not practical for some children. Every parent would like to see it, I am …
I thank Deputy McCarthy for raising this issue concerning Ballyhooly in Cork East. As he has reminded us, it is not the first time he has raised issues around the water network and the need for an upgrade.
I am informed that Uisce Éireann has introduced a number of measures to try to address the issues with the Ballyhooly network. I believe it has put in place a programme of mains monitoring. A leak find and fix was…
For a rare occasion, I agree with the Deputy. I agree with everything he said about the very important work done by the Irish Coast Guard service. We think of all of those who have lost their lives in the service of others, and also of their families and communities.
I am really pleased to hear today about the enhanced service for the Deputy's community and constituency.
I agree that there is a wider issue in relat…
That is the wrong organisation.
The Deputy's comments are disgraceful and inaccurate and that has become the norm.
No, sorry, excuse me-----
The Deputy will shortly be required-----
The Deputy will shortly be required to correct the record of the Dáil because I think the organisation-----
Allow me to speak. This is not a blockade. The organisation that the Deputy is referring to is the World Bank, not the IMF, first of all. I ask him to please correct the record because he did not even bother to do his research. It was the World Bank. The second point is that as the current Minister for Finance, I provided to the Oireachtas committee all relevant documentation, which proves that the then Minister, Pas…
The answer to the other question is that the Deputy should read how State companies actually operate in terms of the role of boards and responsibilities.
You referenced the IMF incorrectly. You should correct the record of the House.
Correct the record and get your facts right.