Simon Harris

It will go to the foreign affairs committee in the month of June. While you are standing here just throwing brickbats at me-----

-----we are working to support the people of Palestine. The only Chamber I ever go into in the entire world where people do not acknowledge that Ireland - the Government and the people of Ireland - are standing with the people of Palestine, standing up for human rights and standing up for international law is here, when you get up and distort with your ideology the actions of this Government. I am…

There you go. You are at it again. Hold your sign up.

You cannot work together on anything.

I thank Deputy Fitzmaurice for raising this important issue and, in fairness to him, for raising it consistently in terms of the aftermath of Storm Éowyn and the impact it has had on people across our country, but most particularly the elongated impact it has had on people living in rural or more disperse communities, many of which I know he represents in his constituency. I will deal first with …

We will keep the pressure on for those who do not have service. The Deputy's second point is one of the real learnings of the storm, that when the network goes down, it is not just the loss of the phone - I do not mean to be flippant - but also the loss of all contact and connection with the outside world. For older or vulnerable people or people who live in isolated rural areas and their families…

I thank Deputy Brennan for raising timely and important issue. It is worth reflecting on the level of capital investment we are seeing. Since 2019, through the national development plan, we have delivered 170 km of new roads, including the New Ross bypass, the Dunkettle interchange, the Moycullen bypass, the N22 Macroom road and the N5 Westport-Turlough road. We have delivered active travel infras…

The honest answer is "Yes". We need to be more ambitious. While these are judgment calls the Minister will no doubt get right in the time ahead, with Government colleagues, we also need to recognise that projects announced today obviously have a lead-in time. This Government wants to deliver 300,000 new homes by 2030. In order to fulfil that, we are going to have to press "go" on crucial water and…

We are significantly increasing funding for defence and supporting the Air Corps, the Naval Service and Defence Forces more broadly. Indeed, funding for defence has increased by 30% since 2020 to a record level. It will increase again in the review of the national development plan shortly. We are back in an era of major investment. Deputy Doherty is right, however. It is no surprise to anyone that…

I thank Deputy Ahern. This whole issue of energy security and supply is an important one. We all know where we need to get to in the context of renewable and offshore energy. We know that we need to turbocharge - pardon the pun - getting there in every way we possibly can. It is about a balanced approach, however. We do not want our country to be closed to investment and investment opportunities. …

I thank Deputy Gibney for her work on this matter on the committee. To add to the point she made, the IT project at RTÉ, which I believe was discussed at the media committee, came to light after the Minister wrote to agencies asking them whether they had anything they wished to tell about the wastage of public money. Deputy Gibney’s point in general about being transparent and up-front would certa…

I was waiting for the twist in the story. I thank the Deputy for highlighting that issue. To be blunt, there is a challenge in that lots of people around our country want to do the right thing in their own lives with regard to climate. They are finding the schemes we are providing are either not adequately resourced or are too rigid in terms of their application of rules. I am hopeful the Governme…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. He is right that there are far too many Irish teachers abroad. We would much rather, as would a lot of them, that they were back here teaching. I know this is a huge priority for the Minister, Deputy McEntee. The Deputy will be aware that the Minister made a number of announcements on policy decisions in this regard over the Easter period. They include ma…

It certainly does not sound like it, based on what the Deputy has said. I know he has done a huge amount of work on the issue of access to medication, particularly for those with rare diseases. I met the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association approximately two weeks ago. As the Deputy can imagine, we discussed trade and tariffs, but we also discussed that a new framework agreement is due to b…

I thank the Deputy and Councillor Marie Murphy for their work on this. I was looking into this and there are approximately 17 new special classes sanctioned for County Tipperary for the coming academic year. I think there are nine at primary level and eight at post-primary level. This is in addition to 138 special classes currently in operation in County Tipperary and three special schools in the …

I thank the Deputy. She is right that we have consistently said that no one should be disadvantaged based on when they entered the scheme. She is bringing forward a suggestion that sounds as if it makes common sense and is constructive, and I thank her for that. In the absence of all the information, I will ask the Minister, Deputy Browne, to look at her proposal and engage with her directly.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I have loads of statistics here and do you know what I am going to do? I will not read them out. The statistics tell me we are doing well in terms of response times and the likes but I also live in County Wicklow, know County Wexford well and know and hear the challenges people raise in relation to this. I am told in relation to the question on capacity …

I thank the Deputy. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae thinks that is a great idea so I had better pass that on too. There is a lot of common sense in what the Deputy said. Garda vetting is an extremely important issue. The Deputy says that, I say that and we all know that. We have to support the Garda in making sure we know everything we need to know about people, particularly those who work with children …

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue and bringing to my attention the petition and advocacy of the family of the late Adam. We thank them for that too. I take very seriously the points raised. There will be a new mental health Bill coming through the House relatively shortly and that will provide an opportunity for us to tease through these issues and make sure the mental health structures and…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue with me again in the Dáil. As he rightly said, I met a number of local residents, including Ms O'Dwyer and Ms Crowe, and they were very decent people. It is not fair to say I did not come back to them. I listened to them, engaged with them and passed on their views to the relevant Ministers. The description of Ukrainian people being put on buses and not kn…

I agree with a lot of what the Deputy said in the sense that no parent should have to protest in relation to that. I would just say - the Deputy may or may not agree - that there is not a lack of political will. Everybody in this House wants to get this issue right. I believe the Minister, Deputy McEntee, has engaged with a number of families involved and is willing, as is the Minister of State, D…

I thank the Deputy. There is a particular poignancy when she raises this issue because I am conscious that she served with distinction as part of our peacekeeping mission. I thank her for her service. I join with her on what is the International Day of UN Peacekeepers in celebrating the vital role that our peacekeepers play across the world. It is now more crucial than ever before, at a time when …

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. He is absolutely correct. He knows better than I do that there is increasing demand for school places in the Newcastle-Rathcoole school planning area due to new residential development. So far, the response of the Department and Government has included the establishment of Coláiste Pobal Fóla in Citywest in August 2020 and the expansion of Holy Family Com…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. My thoughts, like his, are in the first instance with the employees impacted. This decision was flagged by the company in March but yesterday it was confirmed to staff that the decision to close its Irish site will proceed. I understand this is part of the company reviewing its global structure. It has been implementing cost-cutting measures ove…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is absolutely true that everybody deserves to be safe in his or her home and community. I join the Deputy in praising the community workers and local gardaí for the excellent work they do in the area. I will talk directly to the Minister for Justice about the King's Island area and the need for more support and resourcing for the Garda. I will ask the…