Hang on a second. Do not shout me down.
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.
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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
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| 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 |
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| 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
The Deputy is here long enough. He asks and I get to speak.
That is how it works.
It is a democracy. Remember that. The Deputy asked me a question and I will answer it how I wish. The answer I wish to give is I want to understand exactly what happened in relation to that situation from the Department of education because the practice the Deputy referenced is not widespread. Nor is it reflective of this Government's commitment to investing more in education, most particularly when we saw an increas…
As a Crohn's sufferer, I have a conflict of interest here as well. I will talk with the Minister in relation to this matter. More broadly, and I say this to be helpful, while there is sometimes a need to change laws, and we will always consider constructive Bills that Deputies like Deputy Wall bring forward, sometimes there is just a need for a bit of common sense in making sure there is clarity in relation to the us…
I make the point that the budget, by any objective standard, was a progressive budget. It was a progressive budget that helped those with the least the most. That is how progressive budgeting works. It is there in the ESRI SWITCH model and the likes as well.
I have outlined very clearly what the Government is doing to help those most in need. I appreciate the fact the Social Democrats have brought forward a proposal around targeted energy supports. One crowd here wants a universal support, another does not want any supports and the Social Democrats wants targeted supports. If this is a united left, I would not like to see them divided.
I answered it at great length from the Deputy's coalition colleagues.
I appreciate the Deputy's strong mandate to represent people in this House on this issue. I respect the fact he engages with us on this regularly. I will point out that the figures we cite are not just headlines. They are a genuine commitment to provide from the Exchequer an extraordinary, quite rightly, sum of money to try to assist people with this issue. I accept there are challenges that we are all trying to work…
Yes, we will. I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. Religious freedom matters. It matters in our own country too. Sometimes, there is an effort in what is sometimes called the progressive agenda to try to exclude the conversation on this, including parents who want to send their child to a school of a religious ethos of their choice, which is that parent's choice. I welcome the publication of the report today. T…
I never quite thought there would be a day when Paschal would ask me to spend more money but it did come on his final day. I really want to thank you, Paschal - Deputy Donohoe - for this question. It is fitting on your last day in Dáil Éireann that you are talking to us about borrowing, but now about borrowing books instead of borrowing money. When I walked into what was your former library yesterday, I thought I had…
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. While I do not believe I have had the pleasure of meeting with the Coventry centre, I have had the pleasure to meet with many centres working in the UK. I share his view that they are doing incredible work. I visited one in Camden Town in London relatively recently and I am aware of the work it is doing with survivors of residential abuse and mother and baby homes. It is inc…
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I take from his contribution the depth of feeling there obviously is in his community in relation to this and all of the sports clubs, autism families and others that he highlighted. In light of his raising it I will ask the Minister for housing, Deputy Browne, and the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, to take a specific look and to come back to him with an informed view on …
I could not agree with the Deputy more. I have been with her in Balbriggan. It is a great town but I know how fast growing it is and how important this appointment is. Indeed, she has chatted to me about it in recent days as well. I have made inquiries. I am informed that, as we will recall, the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024 changed how the Garda fills its vacancies at senior ranks. It now runs the…
It is very fitting the Deputy should raise this because while we have been in the Chamber the play-off draws for the World Cup have taken place. I believe we will face the Czech Republic - that is the "check" I have been thinking about most in the Department of Finance today - with a possible home final against Denmark or North Macedonia. That is just the latest soccer information. The Deputy is right, and that is th…
That is exactly the point I am making. I will make immediate inquiries with the Minister for sport, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan, about the Oscar Traynor Centre and will ask him to talk to the Deputy directly.
I thank the Deputy. Both he and Paschal would be disappointed if he did not point out their significant political differences while doing so in such a courteous way.
I am going on my memory here but I believe we did increase the income thresholds for social housing in the previous Government. I acknowledge that we probably need to do more on this over the lifetime of this Government. I see it in my constituency wher…
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue in the House, as he has done on many occasions. I will not, for understandable reasons, comment on matters that are the subject of a commercial dispute before the courts. I understand that the Minister for justice, Deputy O'Callaghan, has agreed to meet with the Deputy next week to discuss the broader matter he raises on behalf of the people of Dundrum. When I have been in hi…
In my new role I must be even more disciplined in commenting on various tax changes and the likes. I have been watching Paschal do this for a few years. I am committed to the programme for Government, of course, as is the Government. The sequencing and advancement of various initiatives in the programme will be a matter for individual budgets. The Deputy is entirely right: this was put into the programme for Governme…
I am glad the Deputy reminded me of that Bill because we should try to make progress on it. I will seek an update on that. On the library issue, we have a public library strategy 2023 to 2027. We are genuinely committed to continuing to invest in our libraries. The evolution of our libraries has been a source of collective national pride at a time when other countries are reducing their investment in and funding of t…
When the Deputy asked Paschal to follow Leo's lead, I thought she was going to ask him to write a book.
I think it would be a very interesting one, but that is for another day.
The Deputy raised a very serious matter about the wait times for psychology services in County Mayo. She also highlighted the very serious issue of death by suicide in her county. I will ask both the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, and the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, who has responsibility for mental health, to come back to the Deputy …
I thank Deputy Murphy for raising it. I have been around long enough to know that disputes are generally resolved by engagement and consultation so I would encourage everybody to engage intensively with Dublin Fire Brigade, which does an incredible public service, and indeed with the ambulance service. I know that from quite a while back, in my memory, these issues with ambulance and fire brigade provision in the cit…
The Dáil meets today at a time of change within the Government, but equally at a moment of continued cohesion. This is made possible because we live in a country with a stable Government that has a collective commitment to a programme for Government and a clear mission to build and secure a prosperous future for the people of Ireland.
My friend and colleague, Paschal Donohoe, has served with unparallelled distinctio…
No chance of that.