However, there is a need and it is not just my view and it is certainly not my craven ideology; it is the view of the Housing Commission-----
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
No, it said to get in private investment. There is no Government policy to do that.
The Government's policy is to stimulate private investment-----
-----but alongside that put in place a package that the Opposition is refusing to acknowledge because it does not work for their social media clips.
There will be an effective no-fault eviction ban. The Opposition will put up a selective clip that will put the fear of God in people in relation to rent but it will not tell them about the no-fault eviction ban.
It will not tell them about nationwide renters' protections. It will not tell them that, actually, the sound bites delivered in here yesterday were dispelled on national radio today. Let us be fair on this sensitive issue. Let us actually bring forward ideas in relation to this. We are bringing forward a balanced package to stimulate supply and protect renters.
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and reminding us of a lot of the very good work that has been done by that office since its establishment. I recall the appointment of Leigh Gath, who I think was the first confidential recipient. She was a woman whom I knew and she did incredible work. She was a Thalidomide survivor herself and a disability advocate. She really did excellent work and I acknowledge that and t…
I disagree with the Deputy's characterisation of it but I appreciate the point he is trying to make. It is a highly important issue that we all need to be alert to. This office has operated since day one as an independent office. It was an independent office that receives confidential information and then reports it to the HSE's CEO.
When it was reporting it as an independent office to the HSE's CEO, there was no ch…
-----the HSE now operates and the role and the value of the chief social worker because the chief social worker has been a positive addition, for the many reasons that the Deputy outlined, to the HSE. I will ask the Minister to come back to the Deputy further.
I thank Deputy Ward for bringing up this issue. I am particularly grateful to him for mentioning Michelle Cotterell, the principal, because I saw the report on the Six One news the other night. I have never met Ms Cotterell - I would be happy to meet her - but I thought her presentation of the issue was exceptional. She made the point - indeed, it is a point I have been repeating in the days since - that we have to u…
Something good has to come from this. When you are a parent under pressure worrying if your child is going to get the supports that they need, you do not really care which arm of the State, which office, which Minister or which Department. The buck stops with us, the Government. That is why we needed to stop the review, provide the additional SNAs where that was identified, not have a downward revision in schools but…
Farmers are far from stupid; they are the backbone of the indigenous Irish economy. They also know that this Government has their back. It had their back on nitrates and on Mercosur and will have it when it comes to the CAP and bluetongue. We know that they know we are with them and will be supporting them. We have had a point of disagreement with regard to the chair of a semi-State board. The Government has a job to…
The Deputy has been in this House long enough that when he says he attended the most impactful presentation he has been to, I take that very seriously. I will certainly arrange for the relevant Ministers, perhaps Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, and the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, in the first instance, to engage with that organisation and work through the list of, no doubt, constructive proposals it has put …
The Government has voted expenditure of over €118 billion. Within that voted expenditure, this additional allocation of around €19 million will be made to the Department of Education and Youth. No official should be in any way glib in that regard, because we are very sincere in respect of this matter. That money will be provided. I say this as a coalition leader and as the Minister for Finance.
I take the point that…
I truthfully do not know if the Minister has received the report, but I will certainly find out for the Deputy and ask that the Minister write to him. The programme for Government is clear in relation to this. There are examples around the country. I should declare an interest that I am a former member of a town commission in Greystones. There are examples of how town councils and town commissions provided excellent …
In the two budgets that I intend to deliver as the Minister for Finance, I am absolutely determined that we do something in relation to retail investment. Irish people are among the best savers in the European Union, but we have one of the lowest rates of participation in investments. The reality is that good, hard-working and decent people right across the country are trying to do the right thing and put aside a few…
SMEs remain the backbone of the Irish economy. While this country proudly has a good tradition - and one we want to continue - in terms of foreign direct investment, including in the Deputy's county, the biggest employer in Ireland remains small- and medium-sized enterprises the length of breadth of the country. This is why we took a number of measures in the budget to support small businesses, to protect jobs and to…
I thank the Deputy for raising the very specific issue in relation that particular stretch of the N68. I will follow up directly with the Minister on the matter, on the funding involved and on the purpose for which the Deputy believed and which the documents indicated-it was for versus what she has heard locally. I will ask the Minister to come back to the Deputy on the matter.
I join with the Deputy regarding the b…
I thank Deputy Ó Cearúil for raising this important issue in relation to St. Patrick's National School in Celbridge. I am pleased to hear that the Minister visited the school in recent times and will, therefore, have an awareness of the situation. I am also conscious of the health and safety information the Deputy has read out in respect of the seriousness of this matter. On the basis of what he said, it seems that t…
I thank Deputy Ward for raising this serious issue regarding water quality in Dún Laoghaire and Dublin Bay and more broadly. We have made a lot of progress on water quality in recent years. We are investing more now through Uisce Éireann. On foot of the Deputy raising this issue, I will speak directly to Uisce Éireann in respect of it. We have provided a lot of additional funding to Uisce Éireann for the years ahead.…
I sincerely thank Deputy Mythen for raising this very important issue. As he rightly says, I was in Wexford very recently and I took the opportunity to visit the hospital. I met with the hospital manager, Linda O'Leary, and the team there who do very good work. I was very conscious in all of my engagements in Wexford that there is an acute issue with mental health services in the county. I have had very good discussi…
I thank Deputy O'Flynn very much for raising this issue and the concerns of his constituents and the community in relation to the presence of asbestos and the actions that have been brought about potentially as a result of demolition works. While I am not familiar with all of the granular detail, on foot of the Deputy mentioning that the HSE and the HSA are both familiar with it, I will ask the Minister for Health, w…
I thank Deputy Kenny very much, and for his ongoing work in this important area. I can assure him that the Government is working on this constantly through both the Minister, Deputy Naughton, and the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan. As a Government leader, I am being kept up to date regularly on this, as are others. There are a number of issues here. There is the opening of additional special classes. Ther…
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. What he said is right based on what I have heard today from the Deputy and his colleagues - that you have to see it to believe it. The good news is the fact that the Minister for education has seen it. I know she was out at the school in the past month or so. On foot of the Deputy raising this, I will speak to the Minister, Deputy Naughton, later today and ask that she would…
I thank Deputy Moynihan very much for raising this issue, which I can only imagine is causing significant concern for residents and businesses in Palmerstown and Clondalkin in his Dublin Mid-West constituency. On foot of him bringing it to my attention, I will speak to the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, who is the Minister with responsibility for energy and also ask that he engages with the ESB in relation to this…