Simon Harris

The Deputy needs to return to the technical but not unimportant point that it is still the view not just of the Department of Finance but also the CSO that what we are seeing in the inflation rate since September has been the impact of base effects in pushing up the annual rate of inflation. As recently as my engagement yesterday with the Department, as distinct from my political views, the foreca…

The European Central Bank, as we know, is responsible for monetary policy in the euro area. Having declined in stages over the past 18 months, its main lending rate is now 2.15%. While changes in the level of official interest rates will feed through to the wider economy it does not have a uniform impact on the level of retail interest rates. In a market economy, the determination of retail and bu…

The more competition in the banking sector and the ability to have competition across the EU is how we can help in a sustained and policy proactive way. A number of discussions that are taking place at a European level about completing the single market in relation to that is good. Making sure this is an attractive location in which to operate banks and financial services is also important and imp…

It is not. They reduced.

If the Deputies want to have a direct link between every loan facility and the ECB interest rate, they have to be willing to say they want it for deposits as well. That will not be good either for many Irish businesses or families. There has to be a context to this conversation because people are watching at home and it is presented to them as though interest rates are way out of kilter with the E…

As the Deputy noted, NAMA is on track to substantively conclude its operational wind-down by the end of this year. NAMA completed its final surplus payment of €450 million to the Exchequer as recently as yesterday, 17 December 2025. In total, NAMA has now contributed €5.6 billion to the State. This contribution has included cash transfers, corporation tax payments as well as significant assets tra…

I thank Deputy McGrath for his follow-up question. It is not a question of responsibility. I am precluded, as is NAMA, under sections 99 and 202 of the NAMA Act from disclosing confidential debtor information. Indeed, NAMA is legally precluded from disclosing that information, including specific details relating to debtors, secured assets or related transactions. The agency remains an independent …

I will come back on the rest in a moment.

I never said "responsibility".

I say this respectfully and I do not want to be overly argumentative on the final day of the Dáil before Christmas, but it is unfair to say the Garda is not interested. The Garda in this country take very seriously any issues brought to its attention and if the Deputy has an issue with the Garda, there is a structure there. I just do not like those blanket statements, "The Garda is not interested"…

We are not.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 174 and 184 together. I thank Deputy Clendennen and I know Deputy Byrne has a similar question. Both Future Forty reports, Ireland's Demographic Outlook and A Fiscal and Economic Outlook to 2065, explore the key drivers of Ireland’s economy and public finances over the next 40 years, on a no-policy change basis. We are often accused of short termism in this place.…

I thank Deputy Doherty for reminding me. Once we publish the medium-term fiscal framework, which will set out the expenditure trajectory to the end of the decade, it will enable me, in my new role, to look at that.

What I can tell the Deputy is that the trajectory of the tax bands for the coming years is what is outlined in the programme for Government. I look forward to debating that with the Deputy in the months and, God willing, years ahead. I thank Deputy Doherty for acknowledging this. The Future Forty document is not my document or the Deputy’s document. It is genuinely something that we should all em…

I was certainly not being flippant about the programme for Government commitments. I do not want anyone holding off on staying healthy until future budgets. These are issues that we will, of course, consider in the round, as we always do in advance of the budget. I was in Millstreet in west Cork recently to visit a community gym that is part-funded through Government grants. It was great to see. …

I thank Deputy Boyd Barrett for raising this issue. I know it is an issue in which he has taken a keen interest since long before I was in this role. The Deputy and I, along with Deputy Ó Snodaigh, had some engagement on this matter during the Report Stage debate on the Finance Bill. Section 481 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides a 32% payable credit for eligible expenditure on film prod…

Deputy Byrne captured the point I would make. This tax credit has been extraordinarily successful. Deputy Boyd Barrett is not suggesting that it has not. It has created lots of employment and investment and an ecosystem. I happen to live in and represent a county, as does Deputy Byrne, which has benefited significantly from that, as have lots of parts of Ireland. We have seen progress in workers' …

It is from my Department.

I would welcome seeing that and I am sure the Deputy will give me what he has about the survey. I will also raise it through my Department with the Department of culture and Screen Ireland. If there is useful information that provides us with an insight into the industry, I would like to see that. It is important to see it and it should not be suppressed. I share that view. On whoever is giving me…

Ultimately, that is what we should all be trying to foster here. However, I take the issue seriously. I know this sector through my own constituency and I know many people who work in it. I am aware that the ecosystem has benefited. It is a really positive part of the Irish economy and the Irish offering. Many countries would love to have what we have. If there are areas in need of improvement, I …

I thank the Deputy. On an addendum, he raised with me on Report Stage of the Finance Bill a specific issue in relation to rental properties and their availability in Donegal. I undertook to engage with the Minister for housing on that. I sent him the information from our discussion and I will be engaging with him in January. I am happy to talk to the Deputy further about this. I am aware that thi…

I believe people. I believe them when I meet them. I believed them when I sat in their kitchens in the Deputy’s constituency and county. They have told me about some of the issues they are still experiencing regarding shortfalls, anomalies or issues with banks. They raised some of those issues with me quite truthfully when I was in Donegal, which I believe, from memory, was during the month of Aug…

Let me reflect on what Deputy Doherty said. While some of this is not within my direct remit, I am a leader in government and am not recused from responsibility. My sense from engaging with people in Donegal and other parts of the country is that the scheme is now working for more people than it was but that there are still some who have significant concerns that they cannot access the scheme, and…

Are they the Chair's people? Hello to them.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 177 and 364 together. The Deputy was determined to ask this question because it came in as a priority, regular oral and a written question. I am glad it got tabled because it is an important issue in relation to the expenditure of public money and the impact of that on the delivery of housing. A well-functioning housing market, we can all agree, is crucial to supp…