Simon Harris

I am not sure if the Deputy is proposing pouches for the Dáil. It might slow down the dissemination of information from parliamentary party meetings to the fourth estate, which I am sure would significantly inconvenience some people.

The serious point the Deputy makes is entirely right. It is perfectly right that Deputy Feighan has a right to ask a question, Deputy Coppinger. That is how we work in this democracy. Our lads are elected too and they can ask questions in the Dáil. I thank Deputy Feighan for bringing up such an important issue that is on the minds of all parents around the country, the mental health and well-being…

The only part of this island where phone pouches have been rolled out by a government is in Northern Ireland and where the First Minister is a member of Sinn Féin. I challenge the Deputy to talk to parents, principals and teachers in Donegal because they have been asking for support in relation to phone use. If the Deputy does not recognise the challenges posed by social media and smartphones, tha…

Yes, it is very serious.

What we will do is bring forward a budget with proposals to help people with the cost of living.

I thank the Deputy for bringing up this issue. I undertake to pass that on directly to the Minister for housing and ask him to look into the matter immediately with the local authority and come back to the Deputy directly on the issue. There is a housing emergency. We need to build homes and take every opportunity to do so. We will have a national development plan review next month which will sign…

I thank the Deputy for bringing up this issue. The INTO has rightly highlighted the issue with the Deputy and colleagues across the House in recent days. Many of us have had the opportunity to hear directly from the INTO. The Deputy is right that real challenges are faced by our schools. It is objectively fair to say we have increased the education budget a lot. Much of the focus has been on reduc…

I thank the Deputy. I have been discussing this matter with my colleagues in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade today. We are monitoring the situation very closely. I have asked for an update from our embassy in Egypt and that our consular section keep me directly updated on these matters. The protection and well-being of any Irish citizen in any part of the world is something my Departme…

I appreciate why the Deputy raises this issue but there are two things I will not do. First, I will not interfere in any sort of judicial process around the status or examinership of a company. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle surely would not allow me to do so under the rules of the House anyway. Second, I will not interfere in the awarding of State contracts. We know where that has got the body politic…

I thank the Deputy. He is right. I have been in the Chamber since the news emerged. I join the Deputy and everybody in extending the sympathies of the House and country to all those affected, to the people of India and to those likely to be affected in our nearest neighbour, the United Kingdom. My Department is actively monitoring the situation in real time. We stand ready to assist any citizen, t…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I had the pleasure of meeting Councillor Nealon from Sligo yesterday and discussed this with him. I also met yesterday pupils from a school in Claremorris in the Deputy's constituency who were in the Dáil. When I bumped into them and asked if they had any questions, the first question they asked was what I would do about this idea of the social media ban.…

The Deputy may or may not be aware that there is a prison in my constituency.

Do not shout at me, please. The Deputy may or may not be aware that there is a prison in my constituency, Shelton Abbey. I have visited it many times.

I do not know if the Deputy has visited any prisons recently. I have visited-----

Can the Deputy please stop shouting? Just please stop shouting.

I would like to be allowed to answer a very serious question. Thank you. Prison capacity is a very serious issue. There are far too many people out on the streets, causing chaos in communities, who need to be in prison.

They cannot be in prison unless we expand prison capacity. Our population has grown. I believe in alternatives to prison but there are some people who need to be behind bars. This House has passed laws to extend prison sentences but has not put in place the prison capacity to support those extensions. I have been Minister for justice. No Minister for justice wants to receive reports notifying him …

I thank Deputy O'Shea for raising this important issue for his constituents. The N20 is a strategically important route. The proposed project aims to enhance regional accessibility, to improve the network, to connect the cities of Cork and Limerick, and to improve connections to west Cork and Kerry. It will really help to allow balanced regional growth and development. The N20-M20 Cork-Limerick pr…

I thank Deputy Clarke for raising this very important issue. After I leave the Chamber I will discuss it directly with the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, who has responsibility for mental health. There are a number of actions that the Minister of State is already working on. I want to say that funding is not and will not be a constraint to this. There are real challenges around recruitment, ret…

I thank the Deputy. It is my intention to bring the general scheme next week. There is a very small chance it will go to the following week but it is my working assumption that I will get it to the Cabinet next week so, yes, I believe we will meet the timeline in June. I have been keeping in touch with the Chair of the foreign affairs committee, Deputy Lahart, about this. The Attorney General is …

I thank Deputy McCormack. I agree with the premise. All of us on the Government benches feel very strongly about this. There was very good engagement with the INTO by many of us in our constituencies and at the day it held this week in Buswells Hotel. I thank the INTO for the constructive way in which it has engaged with us. Obviously, all of these matters will be considered in the context of the …

The Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, and I are listening to Deputy Ó Muirí and he is so right. What has haunted me from the programme, and he has captured it very well, was the lack of basic humanity. Yes, there is more this Government needs to do and will do. The Minister, Deputy MacNeill, and the Minister of State, Deputy O’Donnell, are leading on this as regards safeguarding legisl…

I think the INTO will be very satisfied with its very effective campaign this week. I say that in all sincerity because it did have a very effective campaign this week and clearly met with so many TDs as it should in doing its job in highlighting the needs of its schools. To reiterate the point I made earlier to Deputy Mythen, and on the concerns he raised regarding schools, in particular in Wexf…

I have got a bit of this today. Everybody does their best in representing their constituents but with the position I hold within Government I need to be conscious even if cases can be readily identified, even if not named. I do not want to comment on that but take that as read. I am not aware of the correspondence from the UN but I will make myself aware of it now the Deputy has brought it to my a…

I thank Deputy Doherty. Housing is the biggest domestic challenge that this country faces and the people in this country face. It is the biggest societal challenge on a domestic level and it is now a real economic challenge as well. We have to do more when it comes to housing. We, the parties that formed the Government and the Independents who support it, were very clear that if returned to offic…