Simon Harris

That is your view.

No. We are supporting the decision taken by the FAI to participate in the competition. We have enough to be doing running the country without running sports organisations as well. I do not run the FAI. I think it is a bit sneery of the Deputy to call it an inconsequential tournament. It might be inconsequential to her, but I do not think we should suggest to the soccer players that it is inconsequ…

The Deputy would not like people suggesting her participation here is inconsequential. Soccer players and young boys and girls across the country who play sport want to see our soccer team do well. They want to see our soccer team participate. I think we can and should differentiate in relation to this. I do not think we should apply this pressure to individual soccer players or our national socce…

I have always admired the Deputy's bluntness. I will make a couple of points. I say this respectfully. We have to be considered in our comments around trade. The Deputy knows this and I do not need to be telling him or his constituents this but we are exporting about 90% of the agrifood we are producing in this country. We need to understand that. Again, I am not suggesting the Deputy does not, bu…

I have enough challenges answering for the actions of the Irish Government without answering for the actions of the Danish Government. What I assure Irish farmers is that the policies being pursued by different European governments will not be reflected in the policies being pursued by the Irish Government. Anything we do in this space in relation to nature restoration will be done in partnership,…

I thank Deputy Brabazon for raising this very serious issue. I fully accept that it is a huge concern for parents regarding what will happen to their son or daughter when they are no longer around. I was checking on my phone because my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Emer Higgins, is due to meet the campaign group Before We Die. My notes state she is due to meet them next Wednesday. It is…

My gut was right there. The Minister of State actually met the group last Wednesday. I look forward to hearing how that meeting went and I will ask her to update the Deputy directly in relation to that. That was to kick off a conversation in relation to how we can have that more holistic view. In terms of practical steps that we are taking this year, €65 million has been provided for new responses…

I think the Deputy knows I gave that commitment in good faith after significant engagement with the HSE and it being given to me. While it did result in many more procedures being carried out and many more children getting their surgery, I think we have seen a number of very concerning developments in relation to this specialty. That is why I believe there needs to be that full inquiry. We have ev…

I have answered that.

I thank the Deputy for raising this deeply and profoundly concerning issue. I join with her and everyone in expressing my profound sympathy and thoughts to the children and young people affected, their parents and their families. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, is in Kerry as we speak and engaging directly. She briefed the Cabinet yesterday on this issue. She will leave no stone unturned in …

What I will certainly do is accept the Deputy is quite rightly highlighting the issue of disability, as is his party. That is an important and good thing to do. No one wishes to engage in any sort of derisory view. These are important and legitimate issues. The next priority for the Government in terms of the work of the Minister for Social Protection is the development of a cost-of-disability pay…

Our community welfare officers, and the Deputy will know this through his office, are there. He will know the names of the people.

They are there to provide exceptional needs-----

If anybody in the Deputy's constituency, or anyone in the country, is concerned about heating or eating, as he said, I genuinely encourage them to engage with our exceptional needs payments. No one should find themselves in that situation in Ireland. That is what those structures are there for. We just need to have that balance in the conversation. The cost-of-disability payment is a priority for …

I accept Deputy Murphy used Dáil privilege, as is his right, but because matters are before the courts, I am not in a position to comment further, other than to say the Government's position in general is it wants to see all reports published and to be transparent in relation to this. The legal realities as to what it is possible to publish or not are matters for the Minister for Health to work th…

I thank the Deputy for a comprehensive question on St. Luke's in Kilkenny. It is a hospital I know well and have been in many times. I note a number of works have been carried out there, from a capital point of view, including the extension to radiology, the provision of a new MRI, which was completed in 2022, and the new 72-bed replacement medical ward block. I am told the replacement of the exis…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and for the engagement he had with the childcare sector this week. This is certainly something we intend to examine as a Government. We all know in this House that there is huge demand for childcare places. We need to support our childminders and help them to remain viable and in the sector, not making life harder for them. I am aware that there are legal …

I thank the Deputy for raising this. My sympathy to his constituent on all she has been through and for her loss. If he wants to send the details to the Minister for Health, I will ask her to engage directly with the HSE on it. As he rightly said, there are two ways of accessing a medical card. There are the means ground but, above and beyond those, the exceptional burden that illness and loss ca…

Please do cc me on it.

How do I know Fingal is the youngest and fastest-growing area in Ireland? It is because the Deputy keeps telling me so it must be true. I know it to be true. I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and acknowledge that she and our colleague Councillor Luke Corkery are working closely on it. It is something I genuinely care deeply about. The population of Swords is huge, bigger than that of a num…

I thank the Deputy for raising this and for her considered contribution on it. The first thing I want to say, which the relevant Minister of State, Deputy Butler, would also want me to say, is that the independent national prescribing audit did not identify the fundamental care deficits elsewhere nationally, but that is not the point the Deputy is making. I just wanted to say that because it is im…

I thank the Deputy. I say very respectfully that he will understand that I am not familiar with the details of the specific project, roundabouts or safety concerns. However, it is important that he has raised the broader issue of the need for consultation and engagement with communities, which is a fair one. It is a serious point. I hear, more than from time to time across the country, that there …

I will be very happy to do that.

I certainly would not want to contradict or disagree with the Taoiseach on views he has given on this project in Cork but what I will do is speak to him directly about the issue. I hope this is a matter of common sense prevailing in terms of engagement. I say this respectfully, but even the idea of mediation having to take place sounds to me like a process that did not go well in terms of proper e…

I hope Wicklow is there too. I fully agree with the Deputy. We live in a county that is both young and fast growing. We know that through our own work not only on school capacity and the likes but also on childcare capacity. While I fully accept that childcare costs are too high, and we all have a similar view on the direction of travel that needs to take place on reducing childcare costs, one of …