I believe and certainly hope we are all united in calling out the far right. We have all had experiences in our constituencies and communities of people trying to sow division. For the Government to effectively deal with that, it must not leave a vacuum. It must put in place the policies required for a functioning rules-based migration system. Immigration is a good thing. All of us in government believe that. I think…
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
Does the Leas-Cheann Comhairle have an interest in this? Is the Deputy from Clonmel? I jest. I thank Deputy Murphy. He represents his community with pride and dedication. I thank him for raising this issue on behalf of the people of Clonmel. I have been delighted to be in Clonmel with him on many occasions recently to see all the work that is going on, the benefit of urban regeneration and development fund, URDF, fun…
The Bulmers analogy is important. We should always be asking if there is any added benefit from a particular layer. If there is not, it should be got rid of. For example, the Minister, Deputy James Browne, brought a proposal to Cabinet recently that there were four gates to get through social housing. That is not the case now. We got rid of the fourth, third and second gates. There is now only one gate. These are the…
We spar in this Chamber on many occasions and do not always agree on things. On a purely personal level, I wish the Deputy well. It takes guts to put your name forward for any election.
Specifically on the infrastructure in Galway, the national development plan will be an opportunity to significantly increase investment. We will be considering many projects. We discussed some of the health projects for Galway earlier.
On the Corrib Estuary issue, I will bring the Deputy's comments to the attention of Senator Noonan's successor, the Minister of State, Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan. I will ask the Mi…
I thank Deputy Ó Laoghaire for again raising this issue which, as he said, he rightly raised at the Oireachtas committee in recent weeks.
The Government remains deeply concerned by the conflict and the real humanitarian crisis in Sudan. Since April 2023, the situation has continued to deteriorate and the consequences are now clearly devastating. It is estimated that over 14 million people have fled their homes and a…
The first thing to say is that we will at least match the level of humanitarian aid to Sudan this year that we provided last year. We have already provided €7.7 million this year. We provided €14 million last year and we will at least match the €14 million this year. That is an additional commitment from the Government to do more with regard to help for the most appalling humanitarian situation.
We have also, throug…
I am not certain whether we have raised them directly, or not with those individual countries, but we have certainly raised them through the European Union. I would point out that we now have an EU special representative for the area, Dr. Annette Weber, who is doing very excellent work. We raised Sudan at the most recent meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council. The Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, will represent Irela…
I thank Deputy Gibney for the question. As she will be aware, the Government carried out an extensive analysis and review of the occupied territories Bill 2018, as it was then, late last year. The Government’s analysis, shared with the Oireachtas at the time, was that substantive amendments would be required to most, if not all, of the provisions of that Bill in order to bring it in line with our Constitution and to …
I have not had engagement with anybody recently on the new Bill but given the significant level of public interest in it, several international partners, including the United States and a number of European and like-minded countries, have expressed an interest in the Bill and the Government’s approach more generally. My officials have engaged with them on the matter, including briefing them on the Government’s positi…
Sure, absolutely.
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 important, and it is not for…
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 itself. However, the G…
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 position, notably respect…
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 publishing their own…
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, however, ad idem with…
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 relates to a differen…
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 practice, that does not…
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. The reality is that if…
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 Irish exports to th…
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 assessment through t…
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 issue of trade and t…
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 oblasts as well as Ky…