Simon Harris

I very much appreciate the context. Let me be very clear: the Government intends to progress with this legislation. I also have an open mind about services. Both of those situations remain factually true and very clear in my mind, and clear in the view of the Government. However, as an Oireachtas we want to pass legislation fully informed, with our eyes wide open. That is why it is really importan…

First, I appreciate the Deputy's acknowledgement that Ireland is the first country that is doing it. That, in and of itself, is interesting, in that there is not another country in the European Union that has published any draft legislation on that. Now, weeks on from when we published our legislation, with goods or services, they have not produced any legislation. That is interesting in and of it…

The very short answer is that we will. Both I and my officials interact with a wide variety of international partners on the Middle East. This remains a major priority for the Government and, I know, for the people of Ireland, who are rightly repulsed by what they see happening, particularly in Gaza but also in the West Bank. Ireland’s engagement is guided by our long-standing and principled posit…

There are a couple of things there. First, the Deputy is right; quite a few like-minded countries may well consider looking at what we have done here and introducing their own domestic legislation. What I was trying to say in response to the last question is that we are in contact with quite a number of European countries that are inquiring as to our legislation, and I hope others will join us in …

I agree with the Deputy on the last point. Any attacks or sanctions on UN representatives are attacks not just on them but on multilateralism. Ireland remains a steadfast supporter of the work of the United Nations and the special rapporteur. It is a deeply concerning development. On the issue of visas, the Deputy is right that it is a competency of my colleague, the Minister for justice. I am, h…

Today's censure motion in the European Parliament is a stunt by the far right and people that the President of the European Commission has referred to as "Putin's puppets". They are seeking to divide Europe at this time. I am disappointed to see the far left lining up with the far right on this issue. The censure motion, by the way, has nothing whatsoever to do with Gaza. As the Deputy knows, it r…

No, we have not.

There are a couple of things there. These are all important issues. On the medical evacuation of children from Gaza, we are fully committed. Genuinely and truthfully, there is an absolute commitment. We have committed to four groups of children. Two have come already and two more are due. The original ask, for the want of a better phrase, was one child accompanied by one parent or guardian. In pra…

They have not.

Those are two distinct issues. For medical evacuations, we are not saying it is one plus one. There has not been a one plus one scenario. Twelve children have arrived. In a one plus one scenario, that would mean the arrival of 24 people. More than 40 people have arrived so far through that programme. I do not want to be too argumentative on a sensitive issue but there must be rules and checks. Th…

I thank the Deputy Ó very much for raising this because he is right that the EU-US negotiations are now at a critical juncture. Our position, I think across party lines, has been clear as a country. Tariffs threaten the hugely successful EU-US and Ireland-US economic relationship. They are bad for businesses, consumers and workers, and they are bad on both sides of the Atlantic. Since April, many…

We will shortly bring our action plan on market diversification to Cabinet. That is a joint initiative between my Department and the Department of enterprise. Of course, as part of that, we will have to look at how we can help Irish companies looking to export to new markets too. The priority at the moment is to try to minimise the impact of tariffs, however. We have published our economic impact …

I have not received any advice on changing that position but on foot of this, let me give it some consideration and come back to the Deputy. On the North-South elements, co-operation is excellent. I interact with the Deputy's party colleague and one of my counterparts, Economy Minister, Dr. Caoimhe Archibald, on a regular basis, and the deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. We discussed the …

I will begin this reply regarding Ukraine and Russia by saying that the latest information I received from our embassy in Kyiv is that it has been a particularly difficult 48-hour period. Ukraine came under large-scale drone and missile attacks again last night. According to President Zelenskyy, 18 missiles and 400 drones were deployed by Russia over a period of ten hours, targeting at least six o…

We have been extremely supportive of this at European level and remain so. I believe my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, represented us at a meeting on this recently -----

I am sorry; he is representing us in Rome today and showing the Government’s support. On 23 June, the Foreign Affairs Council discussed co-ordinating a strong and united European response behind Ukraine, including stepping up the EU’s political and military support. Ukraine’s foreign minister highlighted recent very worrying developments in Ukraine. It is absolutely clear Russia is engaging in the…

The Deputy is entirely correct. We cannot lose focus on what is happening in Ukraine. The UN is dealing with more conflicts than ever in its history. We discussed Sudan earlier. That is another major humanitarian catastrophe that barely gets spoken about in political dispatches in Ireland. Some colleagues do highlight it but it is not getting nearly enough attention. I worry about this kind of fau…

The Deputy was critical of the decision not to grant the visas.

Every individual visa application has to be considered on its merit. This country will continue to apply rules in relation to migration and the issuing of visas. The Department of justice will continue to robustly apply rules, particularly when it involves minors and minors travelling without their parents and accompanied by other adults. I will not get into the individual application beyond sayin…

Many visas have been granted to Palestinian nationals, mostly to family members of Irish citizens and residents. We do try to adopt a compassionate approach. I take the Deputy’s point and his credibility on this in the sense of wanting a rules-based migration system. I do not doubt his bona fides on that. I also do not doubt, nor does the Minister for justice or the Government, the good faith of t…

The Deputy has randomly picked former EU Commissioner. She must have caught his attention in terms of a potential upcoming electoral contest. I agree with the former Commissioner on many issues and I agree with her that the European Union, through the President of the Commission, has provided a significant level of leadership that other parts of the world have not provided. At a time when other pa…

I thank the Deputy for the question. Let us be honest: overseas development aid and assistance are coming under attack in many parts of the world. I am very proud that we live in a country where, on a cross-party basis, even during the deepest financial crisis, there has been consistent support for Ireland to continue to support those less fortunate in some of the most deprived and developing part…

I fully agree with the Deputy. We have allocated about €7.7 million so far this year to Sudan. We are committing this morning to allocating at least €14 million during the total year, which would bring us in line with what we did last year, because the humanitarian situation there is horrific. The year 2025 will be the fifth consecutive year in which the Government allocation to the Irish Aid prog…

I thank the Deputy for highlighting this. We are monitoring very closely the impact on our work as a country and the impact on NGOs like the ones the Deputy mentioned as a result of the ODA cuts from other countries. We are continuing to assess the immediate and long-term effects with our partners. We are in regular contact with governments in developing countries, with the UN and other multilater…

I thank the Deputy for the question. The International Criminal Court is under attack. We are seeing this very regularly in many parts of the globe. Last week I met the President of the ICC in Dublin and we discussed ways in which Ireland can continue to defend the court from sanctions. The president thanked Ireland for its support to date, but having discussed it with her, frankly I was shocked a…