Simon Harris

I thank Deputy O'Flynn very much. I heard the Minister for justice comment on the issue regarding podcasters recently and he expressed his surprise and, perhaps, displeasure in that regard. I will ask him to come back to the Deputy on each specific issue he has raised. The Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, is putting a real focus on increasing prison capacity and has worked very hard to secure additio…

I sincerely thank Deputy O’Sullivan for having put this issue in the spotlight so many times. It really is important. He is right that I am familiar with it as a result of the advocacy of an incredible person I know, a constituent of mine, in County Wicklow. This advocacy has really helped to move the dial. The Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, is also very committed to addressing this issue. Sh…

I thank Deputy Feighan for raising this issue. I am very conscious that he represents a part of the country impacted by Storm Amy and that is still very much living with the fallout from Storm Éowyn and, to put it mildly, the absolute chaos it caused. People in Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal were particularly affected by Storm Amy, as were those in Mayo, Roscommon and Galway. I extend the sympathies …

And I have the right to reply.

I was genuinely rising to my feet to try to give a constructive reply, because I doubt there is a family, and certainly not a political party in this Oireachtas, that has not been impacted by addiction. I can tell the Deputy that there are many people in my party, his and all others, who have lived with addiction, have loved ones with addiction or go home to addiction. Therefore, let us not be----…

I will deal with that constructively. I will even work with the Deputy on it, but I will not stand for the suggestion that only the people he represents are affected by addiction. It is a scourge in so many parts of society, causing pain for so many who deal with it in family life. Addiction is not a party issue at all. The Deputy did raise a legitimate issue, however, which is what I wanted to s…

I am happy to try to help.

Deputy Ó Muirí is right. I thank him for highlighting this. It is an issue I have been raising personally for a while. We all want to do our bit for the climate – of course we do, and we are living through a climate emergency – but we also have to recognise that while quite a few people in this country would like to retrofit some element of their homes, they may not be in a position to do everythi…

I thank Deputy McAuliffe very much for raising this issue. We took an important step forward in this budget in moving towards the abolition of the means test with the increases in the thresholds to €1,000 for a single person and €2,000 for a couple. This is to show intent. We have not reached the destination yet. That destination is to abolish the means test. That is what we intend to do, working …

I thank Deputy Mythen very much for raising this issue. There is, as there should be, constant engagement with all stakeholders in respect of special education. I am pleased that the budget has provided significant additional funding that will allow for 860 extra teaching posts in the area of special education needs and 1,717 extra SNA posts. Also, we will be providing funding of €16 million to ro…

I will try not to do what the Deputy asked me not to do. We obviously need to look at the housing situation nationally but we also need to work locally, county by county, in relation to housing. That is what we are trying to do. It is what the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, and the Minister, Deputy Browne, are trying to do. The Taoiseach and I will be interacting with a number of local authori…

The Minister of State reminds us of a good point.

I thank the Deputy very much for raising this very important issue during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The Minister for Health engaged with the national cancer screening service recently and has engaged with cancer advocacy groups too. I am not satisfied if people are experiencing those waiting times. The Deputy is quite right. As well as the clinical importance of quick diagnosis, there is also…

I thank Deputy Dempsey for raising this case. In many ways, it reminds us of why we need to abolish the means test. We are all hearing too many stories of carers not qualifying because of the income of the people they are married to or in a relationship with. As the Deputy said, there are also cases where people finally get the allowance and then find that if their spouse or partner does a few hou…

I am always open to engaging on a cross-party basis on this. I was with the First Minister for Northern Ireland in Hillsborough last night with representatives from western Balkan countries. We had a conversation about our peace process and the learnings from it for other parts of the world. It was a brief opportunity to talk to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in relation to legacy mat…

The first thing I will do is read that EU report. Deputy Kelly was right to bring it to the attention of the House. We want to be leaders in terms of the structures we have here. We certainly do not want to be laggards. This matter sounds concerning from what he tells me, which I am not doubting. We have taken a number of measures in recent years in trying to establish the new structures for prote…

It would feel wrong to rise to my feet and not take the opportunity to update the House on the ongoing illegal detention of five Irish citizens in Israel, including one of our own colleagues in this House, Deputy Heneghan. Overnight, a second flotilla was intercepted by the Israeli authorities. It was carrying five Irish citizens, including Deputy Heneghan. I want to inform the House that I have b…

There will be five years of certainty.

That is an action. We voted on it last night; we took that decision last night. We are permanently reducing student fees in order that students and their parents will have the certainty that over the course-----

They are a hell of a lot cheaper than they are in the North where Sinn Féin is leading the Government.

Sinn Féin would want to get on with it. I cannot for the life of me-----

When Sinn Féin-----

-----returned to office in the North, I do not understand why it did not make reducing student fees a precondition of that return. It set out a number of other policies and it forget the poor students, who are paying multiples of what their counterparts here pay. Shame. It was a terrible mistake. The student loan system in the North is appalling too.

It is not a back-and-forth. I get to speak in relation to this and then the Deputy gets to speak. Student fees are being permanently reduced in this jurisdiction.

Students fees are being permanently reduced. We are also-----