As the Deputy can imagine, because this is an evolving situation, I have not had the chance to discuss this with Government colleagues and the likes. I also want to take this sequentially. Step one is the well-being of our citizens, seeking their freedom and to get them back home, and the very intensive work my Department and our individuals on the ground are undertaking in the here and now. I have said in the statem…
TDs / Simon Harris
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Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them
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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
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It would be fair to say that I have an open mind and do not rule anything out at this stage.
I very much get what the Deputy is endeavouring to do here. I say that in a constructive sense. He is trying to reflect the genuine concerns that people have across our country and the wish that everybody has to play every possible role they can in using every lever at their disposal. I am not against the principle of that at all but I have not truthfully considered or read the Bill in full. It is the responsibility …
Yes. I will talk to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, about that too.
Yes, it is. The Deputy has the benefit of having slightly more information than I do since I have come into this House. Irish citizens having absolute access to legal representation is important. My understanding from my earlier call with our ambassador and others was that a number of our citizens had already identified potential sources of legal representation on the ground.
I think that is what the Deputy is bringing me up to speed on. I will take that up as soon as I leave here.
I thank Deputy Moynihan for his kind words about the officials in my Department and the work that they are endeavouring to carry out, particularly those in Israel, Ramallah and in the region, and indeed our consular services here in Dublin. I am grateful for all they do and appreciate the Deputy's words. I join him in expressing our sincere sympathies and condolences to those affected by the most horrific murder and …
I agree with all of that, and I will ask the Minister for communications to make the point Deputy Moynihan to ComReg. I can say, as a relatively young person that there is a place for technology, but sometimes you just want to be able to talk to a human being. There are some things that AI and other technologies cannot do yet at least. Emotional intelligence is quite important as well. Sometimes it can be a hell of a…
It is always a pleasure to talk to you.
I have just returned in recent days from the UN high-level week in New York, where the Middle East was a central focus of my agenda. This is a timely debate as we assess the horrendous situation in Gaza and the West Bank and as we look at the implications for wider regional security. I hope that this week's announcement of a proposed peace plan is a step towards a lasting peace that is so desperately needed. Progress…
No, they do not.
Deputy Ní Raghallaigh is so wrong. It is disgraceful.
I move:
That Dáil Éireann:
condemns the attacks by Israel on civilians and human rights activists including Irish citizens participating in the Global Sumud Flotilla, seeking to deliver aid to the beleaguered and starving population of Gaza;
demands that:
— no action is taken by Israel that endangers the welfare or safety of peaceful Irish citizens and other human rights activists aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla…
We have already arranged it.
The revised national development plan capital allocation for the defence Vote group for the period 2026 to 2030 is €1.7 billion. This represents an increase of €600 million, or 55%, on the previous baseline of €1.1 billion. For 2026, the defence capital allocation will increase by €85 million, or 40%, to €300 million. Capital investment in defence primarily provides for the renewal, retention and acquisition of major…
I largely agree with Deputy Ó Laoghaire. I welcome and acknowledge the fact that there is, broadly, cross-party support and support across the House for increased spending on defence and security. We will have different views and perspectives, perhaps, on where to prioritise that level of spending. However, we all recognise as a militarily unaligned neutral country that we still have to take our own defence and secur…
I will check that for the Deputy as I do not have that information in my notes and I do not want to mislead the House. I am not aware that they are not on track but I will check and come back to the Deputy on that today.
Yes, we are on track for 2027. As the Deputy rightly said at the outset, I do not want to get ahead of ourselves here in the sense that, in fairness to all parts of the defence infrastructure, we ne…
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As the Deputy knows, public service pension schemes, including for the Defence Forces, provide for the payment of spouses’ and children’s pensions. However, such pensions are only payable where the deceased had been a member of the relevant spouses’ and children’s scheme.
I do not want to delve too much into somebody's information but the facts of this case have been examin…
I am sympathetic to the broader point the Deputy is making and I certainly extend my thanks and that of the State to the individual for their service with distinction in our Defence Forces. Neither the Deputy nor I were around in the seventies or eighties but my note tells me that, at the time, detailed information was provided and there were extensive briefings. There was meant to be that firm cut-off of 1978 and th…
I am very happy to do that.
At the outset, I very much agree with the Deputy. For an island nation, the development of a robust, comprehensive national maritime security strategy is key. Indeed, this was identified as a priority in last year's defence policy review. I am pleased to say that the strategy is now being developed in consultation with national and international stakeholders and it is expected to be delivered to me for consideration …
I agree with that. We will get to it in a second but there will of course be current public expenditure as well, including making sure we have the men and women to operate and implement any such infrastructure and that we grow the size of our navy as well. Last year's defence policy review did recommend a focus on maritime security because of our assessed threat level, our geographic position and our responsibility a…
The Deputy is right to highlight a particular challenge when it comes to our Naval Service. I join him in thanking its members for their exemplary service. We do need to grow our navy and that requires more men and women in our Naval Service. It also requires more than me just saying that at a headline level. It also involves identifying, as the Deputy rightly said, the specialist skills. What becomes very clear very…
I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 and 5 together. I agree with Deputy Gibney that it is absolutely the Government's intention to bring about a change in terms of how we deploy our troops overseas. I am quite clear on that. Where we disagree is how we see that. I see it as entirely possible to do that while respecting being a militarily neutral country. I have spoken to many of my counterparts in countries that are m…
Firstly, I agree with the Deputy's characterisation of what happened at the UN Security Council, which I believe is accurate. We did work very hard and I particularly commend the French, who held the pen in trying to come up with a compromise solution. There was a real risk that we would have seen a withdrawal of peacekeeping troops in some sort of chaotic manner from southern Lebanon. I was very worried about the sa…