Simon Harris

On the joint procurement under SAFE, we have already opened up the contract for the supply of integrated modular body armour systems to other member states, so we are now providing opportunities for other EU countries as well. This means the work of doing more together, co-operating and playing our part in SAFE has started. On the loan facility, if we think of a domestic household, the credit uni…

The Deputy is entirely correct the benefit of being able to jointly procure is real. It is real in terms of speed and value for money. She is also right that if we have learned anything over the recent period with a war on the Continent of Europe and the turbulent trade environment, it is that being more resilient as a European Union and the opportunities that gives us in terms of our security and…

I thank the Deputy. As he will be aware, in January of this year the blanket exemption from the Organisation of Working Time Act for Defence Forces personnel was removed and most Defence Forces personnel now enjoy the protections of the Act. Due to their specific nature, a number of activities are exempted from the provisions of Act and compensatory rest periods and other protections were agreed f…

There has been extensive consultation with civil and military management and with the Defence Forces representative associations with regard to implementing the working time directive for members of the Defence Forces and the associated proposals for a legislative framework. We have a conciliation and arbitration subcommittee on the working time directive. This is a matter for formal consultation …

I want to see this body of work completed quickly. I am really proud of the work that was undertaken and the measures that were put in place in January that finally removed the blanket exemption from the working time directive for the Defence Forces. That is an important recruitment tool and it is an even more important retention tool. It is also an important recognition of the important work done…

I did a fair bit of it in your own constituency. It was good to be in Donegal. The Deputy persists in trying to misrepresent the budget. Week in week out, he comes in here and says that €9.4 billion more is being spent etc. and then he tries to pivot to suggest it is all being spent in a certain direction. He ignores the fact and does not tell people at home that the bulk of that money went to inc…

You would have heard directly from Cairn Homes, which said in The Irish Times, "The better news is that the recent VAT cut gets passed on directly to the end user here." He would also have heard from Fitzpatrick and Heavey Homes which said, "Apartments are now viable again" and it will lead to a building boom.

You are not yet the leader.

You would have heard from Glenveagh-----

You would have heard from Glenveagh which said the accelerating infrastructure task force is going to make a real difference and the innovations are working. Castlethorn, which builds homes, welcomed the budgetary measure.

At the end of the day, the people you describe-----

No. The people you like to describe as elites and everything else are the people we rely on to build homes in this country. The measures we have taken are making a real difference. I do not think when you, Eoin Ó Broin and others meet these lads, you use the same sort of language towards them as you use in this Dáil. The lobbying register shows you are meeting most of them. I do not think when you…

I never said that.

Nope.

They told you.

It is kind of a single, transferable speech from you. The reality is we went to the electorate. This Government won a mandate to govern and you did not.

We went to the electorate-----

Am I allowed to speak or do I get shouted down in this House?

They waste the time shouting you down. I would like my time to be protected to respond to the questions because people at home do not want this pantomime. They want to know what is happening, not you sitting at the back shouting and roaring at me every time I try to speak. The reality is we ran an election and we told the people of Ireland what we were going to do over the course of five years.

We came together as two parties-----

We came together-----

Am I allowed to speak or is bully boy Pearse just back?

Mr. Angry. Bully boy Pearse.

You are a bully and you shout down people in this House. You are a bully boy and your bully boy tactics will not work on me. We formed a government with a five-year programme.

You have let the mask slip again today that you do not believe there are measures needed to make house-building more viable in terms of apartments.