I assure the Deputy that there is an urgency on our part in this regard. I agree with her - I do not want to say it is not just a social issue because social issues are important - but it is also an economic issue that there are people at home today or who are changing their working hours or working arrangements, not out of choice but out of a lack of access to childcare in a way that works for them, their working pa…
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.
Month by month
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
Show as a table
| 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 |
| October 2025 | 214 |
| November 2025 | 347 |
| December 2025 | 192 |
| 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
I have never heard the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, trashing anybody; it is generally not the way he operates. The issue is very important. The Deputy asked me to try to untangle it. In my mind it is quite clear. The Taoiseach, the Government, Members across this House and people across the country are very committed to the issue of climate action. I was sitting here beside the Taoiseach when he delivered his budget spe…
I need to get the Deputy the exact figure, which I can do once I leave the Chamber, but yes, we will hit the target. It is an important target. I acknowledge the important role that the Deputy's part played in government, including the former Minister Eamon Ryan, as he was at that time. We are committed to it and on track to hit that target. I will get the Deputy the number for the specific allocation. We are at cruc…
The Deputy raises an interesting point. He has raised somewhat similar points about inheritance tax and the likes in the past as well. It is about fairness and equality in how our tax systems, schemes and the likes treat people. It is a debate that is genuinely worth having and it is certainly thought-provoking. It is quite a technical and complex area. Obviously Deputies do not have to give notice of the issues comi…
Like I said, these are debates worth having because the composition of families and households has changed significantly in our country in relatively recent times. Sometimes schemes and legislation can take time to catch up with that changing reality. These are always issues that we, as legislators and policymakers, should scrutinise.
When that opt-out was ended quite a number of years ago, long before my time in go…
That is a new one for me but I will take that away because we need new, novel and important ideas.
I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. My comments relating to Donaghmede stand in the sense that it is a deeply tragic, upsetting and a very serious incident. It merits full investigation in the first instance by the gardaí and that is under way and more broadly regarding safeguarding protocols. I join with the Dep…
The Deputy has never been lacking in ability to get attention but it is good to have him back in this House. I am glad he is back safe and well. I thank him for his kind words for our Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW and I am pleased to see the progress. I had the chance to speak to both Deputy Heneghan and Deputy Ó Muirí last night regarding some of the progress being made in Clontarf and we need to…
I thank Deputy Farrell for raising this issue. It is horrific to hear of anyone experiencing that. The Deputy said that she has heard of another case today but she said that she has heard of many cases. I will ask the Minister for Finance to consider this matter to see what further safeguards are needed regarding this and also how we can get beyond people talking to bots when they are looking for information. I will …
I thank the Deputy for raising this matter on behalf of Willow and her parents. The Minister of State with responsibility for disability, Deputy Naughton, is sitting beside me. She is very happy to talk to the Deputy about this. I am pleased that Willow finally got her assessment. In the budget last week, we significantly increased the money to use private capacity for assessments but I acknowledge that is for the as…
Yes, is the short answer. I go further than that and say we would be interested in working with the Deputy and across the House in relation to this. I am conscious that this is an area in which the Deputy has expertise and a significant background. It sounds like she met a number of other experts too. I am very concerned about this area in terms of the impact on our democracy, on our children and on public safety in …
I am a bit frustrated by this myself as I am often asked this question and I have to give the same answer. The Minister of State, Deputy John Cummins, has responsibility for this and is doing very good work on it. I am very grateful to him for that. We need to see these guidelines. I have to be honest that when we see the guidelines not everyone will be delighted with them, I am sure, but we still need to provide a d…
I thank Deputy Collins for raising this matter. I want to pay tribute to Vera Twomey because if she was watching this she would be the first to say that she and I had a very testy relationship at the start. However, I very quickly realised that Vera was a mum who would do anything for her child. I think of poor Vera and the late Ava today. They changed Ireland in terms of the reforms that were brought about. I rememb…
I know Deputy Daly has a professional background in this as a doctor, which is important to acknowledge. The Minister's only interest, and I know it is that of the Deputy and everybody in the area, is the safety and well-being of expectant mothers and their babies. We all share that view and we all want to get that right. I remember the Walker report. I think I was the Minister for Health at the time when it was comm…
I thank the Deputy for bringing up this issue and her ongoing work on this with the Minister, Deputy Peter Burke. I thank the Minister for his work on this as well. The programme for Government is very clear on this. It says that the Government will "Ensure sufficient employment permits to support the agri food sector including the equine, dairy, horticulture, fish and food processing industries". We have given a com…
It is breaking my heart to think about all these schools, which were in my constituency before Wicklow was carved into two. The Deputy is minding them in the Wicklow-Wexford constituency until we are one day reunited. Tinahely National School is a school I know well. I will certainly work with the Deputy and Mr. O'Connor constructively on this matter. I will ask the Department and the Minister to come back to the Dep…
Deputy Lahart is entirely correct. There are 21 commitments on childcare in the programme for Government, which is a sign of how seriously we are all taking this and what we are hearing from our constituencies. There is a need to look at how we move sequentially and together regarding all of this because fees are a big part of it. It is a second mortgage for many people so it is a really significant issue. It also in…
I thank the Deputy for raising this and for his ongoing focus on infrastructure delivery in north Kildare following our discussion in the House last week. It is our collective priority to ensure every child in the State has access to a school place. I know the Department of Education and Youth, and the Minister, Deputy McEntee, are working hard on that. We remain determined to do that. Kildare is an interesting count…
I thank Deputy Donnelly for raising what is a serious issue for his constituents, based on what he has told me. From memory, I think there was some legislative work done on this in the previous Oireachtas. I need to refresh my memory. I will certainly ask the Minister for justice to seek the views of Garda management and respond to the Deputy directly.
I will not cut across the Minister, other than to say that we can differentiate, and should be able to do so, between governance failures and shortcomings in an agency or organisation and the vital work done by artists on the ground in the community supported through that agency. I know that is a view shared by the Minister. I will ask him to come back to the Deputy directly on this. The basic income scheme, which wa…
It is an important issue. The idea of any child being othered in any school on the basis of their own wishes and choices, and those of their parents, on the education they access is not appropriate. I know the Minister, Deputy McEntee, would share that view. I will talk to the Minister about where her mind is at with regard to a circular. It certainly sounds sensible to have some degree of clarity and consistency and…
I thank the Deputy. There is a lot of merit in what he has said. The Government has published in recent weeks a market diversification plan recognising, as the Deputy states, that while we do a lot of trade between the United States and Ireland, and the United States and Europe, and intend to continue that, we also have to make sure we look for other opportunities for Irish business in both directions. Those connecti…
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue with me and previously with the Minister for education, and not for the first time. I know this is something he has been following and working on intensively since his election to the Dáil to represent Tipperary South. I welcome that it looks like we are at a moment where it is about to move on to the next phase.
What we then need to make sure is that there are no delays and…
The Deputy is right to raise this, and I have heard it raised in the House over the last couple of weeks. I am pleased to be able to say that we now have significant funding for 2026 onwards. The Deputy’s question is a valid one, namely, whether there is anything that can be done between now and the start of 2026. My understanding is that the Department of housing keeps this under review and, as it gets closer to the…
I sincerely apologise if the Deputy did not get a reply to that. I will check that.
Yes, I know, but you should have got a substantive response. My sincere apologies if that did not happen. I will ensure that it does now because there can be zero tolerance for this. “Zero tolerance” cannot just be a phrase. The Defence Forces cannot recuse themselves from zero tolerance. It has to apply to every part of Irish society, including the Defence Forces.
I am open to meeting that individual. I just need t…