I thank Deputy Farrell for raising this important issue, which was rightly raised in this House today. The British ambassador was present here today, as Deputy Farrell and others have raised this issue. I know the ambassador will convey the depth of feelings and concerns of Members of this House to the British Government. I will also raise the issue with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Government colle…
TDs / Simon Harris
0
questions asked
Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them
566,209
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566,201 as a minister, 8 as a TD
140
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Members of the Government answer parliamentary questions rather than ask them, so this page lists none of theirs.
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Contributions to debates 2,972 in all
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| April 2025 | 83 |
| May 2025 | 249 |
| June 2025 | 175 |
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| 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
At the outset, I pass my sympathies, and those of everyone, to the Minister of State, Deputy Robert Troy, whose father, Paddy, has passed away. Robert is, obviously, a Minister of State in the Department of Finance and we think of him and his family at this time of loss.
I thank Deputy Doherty for his question. The programme for Government, Securing Ireland’s Future, sets out a range of commitments to build upon the…
I will speak to the Central Bank as part of my regular engagement, raising the points the Deputy has raised. I am very happy to do that. The establishment of the National Claims Information Database, NCID, has greatly improved oversight of claims' costs and trends in the insurance market. Indeed, it is one of the most comprehensive and respected insurance data sources internationally. The Central Bank of Ireland, whi…
I can provide them. I am very happy to do that now if the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach will bear with me for one second.
In terms of the operating profits for the liability insurance market before interest and tax is deducted, it should be noted that in 2020 a loss of 15% was recorded, a profit of 11% in 2021, a profit of 15% in 2022, a profit of 16% in 2023 and an operating profit before interest and tax of 12% for 2024…
I am conscious that I put a lot of information very quickly on the record of the Dáil in the interests of the finance spokespeople here and Deputy Doherty. I will perhaps put it in a letter to the finance committee. I did not get a chance to go through all of the data in the brief time available in these back and forth exchanges. I would just make a couple of points to the Deputy. First, I will engage with the Centra…
Yes, it has been approved and it will be published tomorrow. I am very happy, of course, to provide any advices or technical briefings that are required by Opposition spokespeople early in the new year, whenever required and in the appropriate forum. The medium-term fiscal structural plan will be published tomorrow. In line with all relevant European regulations and procedures, the plan will be submitted to the Europ…
I take the point. It would have been optimum to have an opportunity to debate it before the recess. We did make an intentional decision not to publish this earlier in the year. I was not the Minister of Finance but I was involved in the decision as a party leader. The rationale behind it, which I think was correct, was to wait and see what the international environment looked like from a tariff point of view. There w…
I did.
Without being smart, it depends on how you define multi-annual budgeting. What this will enable us to do is set out a horizon for spending levels out to the end of the decade. That provides greater certainty for the Department of public expenditure and others to engage multi-annual funding, which interestingly is something IFAC is very supportive of. It made a very positive difference when we introduced it in health …
I engaged with my Department as recently as yesterday on this because we had previous engagements in certain forums in respect of it. The Department's clear view is that an uptick in inflation was anticipated in its forecasts. In that context, it points to the issue of base effects. It has provided a graph that I can send to the Deputy. These effects need to be factored in. While the headline figure for November was …
I accept that cost-of-living pressures are real for people. This House regularly debates what the different policy proposals to address that should be. In my Department's projections, which are obviously provided independent of the political system, inflation was estimated to average 1.8% in the autumn forecasting round. Between January and November, it has averaged 2%. On the forecasting provided by my Department in…
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 forecasting for the year r…
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 business lending rates…
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 important to consumers,…
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 European average. The…
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 transferred to the Land…
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 commercial body. The…
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" and "NAMA is not in…
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. In fairness to the …
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 embrace. It is produce…