Simon Harris

I agree with that. Let me first say that none of my comments is in relation to anyone in an IPAS centre. Everyone who comes to our country deserves to be treated with dignity and respect and to be safe. We all condemn some of the callous, disgusting and despicable criminal acts we have seen in recent times. It is legitimate, though, and, indeed, important that we debate some of the issues the Depu…

The Deputy is entirely right. It is an enormous stressor. Verification is really important. The Deputy has made that point and it is absolutely correct. Child protection and all those aspects are really important and no one in this House would ever do anything to weaken that. We can move on from wondering if somebody will ever answer the telephone in a rural Garda station. Gardaí are very busy peo…

I have had the honour of meeting a number of people in Drogheda in terms of the Drogheda city campaign but also regarding this idea of making sure the town is adequately resourced and supported from a local authority point of view, the whole tug between the two counties and the likes of that.

I am aware of all that too. On the specifics relating to the train station, I ask the Deputy to allow me to ask the Minister, Deputy O’Brien, to take a look at this issue and to come back to the Deputy directly and see what can be done.

Yes.

No.

I thank Deputy Cummins for raising this issue. She is right. I have heard from people in relation to this issue too and I am pursuing it through my office. I will absolutely do as the Deputy has asked. The Minister and the Minister of State brought in a welcome reform, which I know the Deputy welcomed too, to try to get ahead of this and be able to properly plan earlier each year for the next Sept…

I thank Deputy Sheehan for raising this matter and highlighting the issue Limerick Chamber has also raised with the Government. I thank the Deputy for the useful description he has given me of the issue not just in terms of the congestion and the traffic issues and the environmental issues they cause but also the dangers in terms of cars coming to a sudden halt. On foot of the Deputy raising this …

I thank Deputy Murphy very much for raising this issue. Garda attestations are one of the most joyous occasions I have attended in a variety of roles. Putting on the uniform of An Garda Síochána is an ultimate act of public service and I join with the Deputy in wishing everybody well tomorrow. I presume the Minister for justice will be in the Deputy's county tomorrow. I will ensure the Deputy has …

I thank Deputy Cahill for raising this issue and for the comprehensive list of towns and townlands in County Kerry where there are challenges in relation to mobile phone coverage. I know the Minister for communications has a blackspot task force operating in his Department to identify these. It is quite peculiar how this happens. There are areas very much in the heart of urban and rural Ireland th…

The Deputy always makes a very efficient use of his time. There are two important issues there. On the John McNeela case, it will require legislation. I have asked my officials to explore the most expeditious vehicle with which to take that forward. I will ask that a written update be sent to the Deputy very shortly on that. On the issue of school places, the Minister for education, Deputy McEnte…

I will ask the Minister to look at that too.

I wish to extend the sympathies of everybody, including my colleague, Deputy Michael Murphy, with Deputy Healy in relation to the people of Clonmel and the family of Monica del Bigio. It sounds like a remarkable life and contribution. May she rest in peace.

This sounds like an extremely difficult and concerning case. I cannot, because I do not have information, make commitments on the floor of the Dáil in relation to people having medical procedures. I cannot do that but what I can do is ask that the transcript of what the Deputy has outlined be sent to the Minister for Health and that she would ask that the NTPF consider the Deputy's request and com…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 4 together. The committee did a very good job. The timeline for pre-legislative scrutiny is set down by the Standing Orders of this House, to the best of my knowledge. The committee kept to those timelines and produced a comprehensive report, and I thank Deputy Ó Laoghaire and all members of the committee for their work on that. As the Deputy rightly recall…

The Deputies cannot pick and choose which mandates they like. I have a mandate - a very clear and a very large mandate - from the people of Wicklow and I have a mandate from-----

No, but I have a mandate to bring forward legislative proposals. I have a mandate to table draft laws, as do the Deputies opposite. I have a mandate to debate and discuss those laws, and my mandate is perfectly valid, as is the mandate of every Member of this House. The Deputies cannot pick and choose which mandates they like. We tend not to talk about the President in this House. I will not do so…

I am not sure it was a majority, though.

That is good.

That is a space in which I am willing to and wanting to engage. I fully accept quite clearly that we do not agree on the issue of changing the role of the triple lock. I think the Deputy's position is to leave things as they are. I do not say that flippantly. I think that is the Deputy's position. My position is that we are going to change it. I am very happy to have a conversation about the subst…

To military neutrality, which has not changed.

I would like make a point about last year's general election. This gets mentioned a lot. In fairness to my predecessor, who is now Taoiseach, the process and the policy process of changing the triple lock was advanced in the previous Government. The Deputies will remember the comments of Micheál Martin in the previous Government. When we then went before the people - Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael - we…

The short answer is "No". I was enquiring about this recently. I have seen some media speculation in relation to this. I have been honest with the House. A major opportunity and challenge for the Defence Forces is going to be to secure a multi-role vessel programme and the upgrading of that. That is where the focus is and will remain. I am happy to provide that clarity. My priority as Minister for…

I am conscious when I read out the answers that a lot of these numbers and the likes are quite technical for people following this debate. I largely agree with what the Deputy has said. The replacement of the flagship LÉ Eithne with a multi-role vessel is what is provided for in the equipment development programme. It is also what is provided for in the recommendations of the Commission on the Def…

I thank Deputy Gibney very much. The point she raised around undersea cables - we may have a question on it later - is an important one because we need to have a better awareness of what is happening below our seas. The MRV programme can do that as can the radar programme. The rollout of that radar programme is priority one, two and three. It is a programme that will start to be rolled out in 202…