Simon Harris
Wicklow · Fine Gael · Ireland
“There are more than 10,000 routes and thousands of buses involved and the number of students using the services is not a million miles away from 200,000. The current terms of the scheme are going to continue to apply for the 2026-27 school year.”
“I thank Deputy McDonald for raising what is genuinely an important issue. I do take the point that when we talk about this in the abstract or from a process point of view in here, that for people watching this is their real lived experience.”
“There number of children who have been supported by means of the school transport scheme, as Deputy Fitzmaurice knows and has alluded to, has grown significantly in recent years. Since 2018, the number increased from 120,000 in 2018 to more than 181,000 now. Included in that figure are 24,000 pupils with special educational needs.”
“I knew the Deputy would have to mention the GAA, especially with Galway and Limerick playing at the weekend. I wish everybody involved the best of luck. We are very committed to the school transport scheme. If the Deputy wants to see our commitment, he should look to our budget.”
“An ageing population, increasing healthcare needs, the transition to net zero and the need for continued investment in housing, energy and infrastructure will place a significant demand on public resources.”
“There is also a legitimacy to the point the Deputy made about how it is a legitimate form of transport for some people. We see this working in other European countries. We see it in our nearest neighbours. I do not want to get the regime wrong, but I think they have registration at the point of purchase that allows people to track this.”
The complete record
Every one of 4,585 lines we hold for Simon Harris, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 14 of 92.
“I hope we can join across the political divide in making that point but there needs to be an understanding in society, in everyone's home, in every community, pub and social setting in Ireland that the taking of illegal drugs in your community is not a victimless crime. Somewhere along that chain, before you snorted that line of coke or took that pill, there was potentially a child being brought into a life of crime. We cannot avoid or sugar-coat that anymore by just thinking this is an issue confined to certain communities. Nearly all communities are now complicit in this harm and we need to have a much less tolerant approach to the casual taking of drugs.”
“First, I fully appreciate the Deputy is making a point that is broader than Ballymun. I just wanted to acknowledge the trauma in Ballymun and point out there is a structure there that Government should harness to try to support the community at this time of particular acute challenge. We have taken a number of initiatives to try to tackle deprivation in the country. I can think of one as recently as last month, with the rollout of DEIS plus, targeting schools in our communities that are not just the most disadvantaged but the most disadvantaged within those most disadvantaged. The Deputy is right on the broader point of something going on in society. It is not just in a certain small number of communities. Drug use is now widespread.”
“While the Deputy makes the point this is often the most deprived communities in Ireland, drug use is often not in those most deprived areas. It is happening in so-called middle-class areas - middle Ireland - where people are snorting a line of coke at the weekend, not thinking of the devastating consequences it is having on communities, and that action should be called out too.”
“To tackle some of the deep-rooted issues that have existed over many years in the community, the Ballymun Implementation Board was established in 2024 by my colleague, the former Minister for justice, Deputy McEntee. The board is led by an independent chair, hosted by Dublin City Council and brings together relevant social services, providers and the Garda to work together with community leaders and local business leaders. We have provided funding of €200,000 through the Department of justice to help with the running of the board. It would be useful for us to have further engagement with it as a Government in terms of concrete steps that we can take. We changed the law with regard to children being coerced into crime. For anybody to solicit or coerce a child is a particularly disgusting and heinous crime.”
“I know that the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, has been briefed by the Garda on the circumstances concerning the incident in Ballymun. I am obviously aware that there have been arrests and I do not want to comment too much on that part, but I join with the Deputy and everyone else in this House in asking anybody with any information in connection with the investigation to come forward either to the local Garda station in Ballymun or to the Garda confidential line where any information they have will be treated with the utmost confidence. I want to say to the community in Ballymun that at the end of February, 268 gardaí were assigned to Ballymun district. Of those,160 were assigned to Ballymun Garda station. Since 2024, 34 probational gardaí have been assigned to Ballymun.”
“A short time later, two men arrived on an electric bike and took the gun away but the weapon has still not been recovered in spite of intensive searches by gardaí, including armed units. I am conscious that two males were subsequently arrested - a man in his 20s and a teenager - in connection with the incident and both have been detained under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. That is law and order. When a crime or an alleged crime is carried out, people should be detained, arrested and questioned. I believe the man in his 20s is still being questioned in connection with the incident while the teenager has been released without charge, pending a file being issued to the Director of Public Prosecutions.”
“I join with Deputy Gannon in acknowledging the huge sense of trauma, fear, disgust and shock being felt in the community of Ballymun and by people right across this country, but nowhere more acutely than in Ballymun. As the Deputy rightly said, on 28 April, a man armed with a handgun was seen near Ballymun Garda station where a second man was being detained. Both are suspected of being involved in an ongoing feud. Gardaí approached the man with the firearm. He ran away, was pursued and threw the gun into bushes as he made his escape. That gun was then subsequently picked up and fired by a child of around 11 years of age. Thank God, nobody was injured in the shooting, but as the Deputy says, it was for the grace of God that nobody was injured.”
“He came in here about two weeks ago and asked me to bring forward a package of measures that would have cost €1 billion. Last week, Sinn Féin held its Ard-Fheis and said, "God, we had better come up with another plan - €3.2 billion". Sinn Féin's policies are not sustainable. We will have no options left in the winter if the Deputy continually comes in here every week and says "another billion, another billion, another €3 billion" without even bothering to target the measures. Under Sinn Féin's plan, the Deputy would get an energy credit. He does not need an energy credit. Sinn Féin has not even done the level of detailed policy work-----”
“It is quite extraordinary that after 16 years as the Opposition spokesperson on finance, the Deputy still believes that a cost-of-living package of €750 million does not help. Of course it helps. It helps reduce the cost of diesel and petrol; it extended the fuel allowance; it is making people's homes warmer; it is helping the farmers, fishers and hauliers; and it is helping to suppress inflation. The Deputy wants to ignore all of that because he has this narrative of telling the Irish people that the Government is refusing to act. The Irish people are not stupid. They know we are acting.”
“The Deputy may like to put forward a narrative but people out there know that we have taken measures to reduce the price of diesel and petrol, help key sectors of the Irish economy and suppress inflation, and they know that we stand ready to take more in the months.”
“I am pleased to say that we are also taking measures in this regard, with record funding this year to help to upgrade people's homes, make them more energy efficient and make them warmer so they will be cheaper to heat, allowing us to move away from the over-reliance on fossil fuels. We have seen an increase in the application rate for these grants of 186% as a result of decisions made by the Minister for housing, Deputy O'Brien, and Government colleagues. Grants for windows, doors and heat pumps are all up hugely on last year. Since 2019, over 250,000 home energy upgrades have been delivered thanks to Government funding of over €1.7 billion. This is not a question of anybody having to wait for anything. This is a Government acting beyond the government of any other European member state to try to make real progress.”
“The Minister, Deputy Calleary, his predecessors and this and the last Governments have not sat idly by since the end of 2024. In fact, in the two budgets since then, we took measures to increase the fuel allowance further and extend it to more people. We have seen it extended to more older people and to 50,000 more low-income families. We have seen the amount of the allowance increased also. The war has had a real impact, and that is why, in addition to those measures, we decided to further supplement it by €77 million, extending it for another month, benefiting 470,000 people. The report refers to the need to help people to warm their homes and ensure they are more energy efficient.”
“This will benefit people, by comparison with what they would otherwise have experienced, in the supermarket or local shop as they go about dealing with the cost of living. The ESRI report did not fall from the sky. It was commissioned by the Government itself because it is always good to have an evidence base. The report states many things. It notes that the number of people at risk of energy poverty or of not being able to warm their homes nearly halved between 2013 and 2024. In 2013, in the depths of a financial crisis, 25% of households in Ireland were struggling to heat their homes. The percentage was still too high at the end of 2024, when it was down to 14%. The report also found that the fuel allowance scheme was very effective.”
“I certainly heard words of welcome for those schemes, and I am sure the Deputy must have, too. I heard them on the radio and television. Farmers and their representative bodies said the schemes would help and make a difference. The scheme for farmers and farm contractors will open as soon as next Tuesday. The Deputy is right to highlight the issue of inflation because the war against Iran - the bombing of Iran - has caused inflation to increase, but it is also true to say that the economic analysis of the package that we have introduced has shown it is suppressing inflation. The chief economist in the Department of Finance believes that the package we introduced will not just benefit farmers, fishers, hauliers and people at the pumps, but will also suppress inflation by around 0.6% per month.”
“Of course, the Government has not waited to act. It has introduced what is either the largest or second largest package of supports in the EU. It was announced on the floor of this House around two weeks ago, and I am pleased to say it is having an impact. While diesel and petrol prices are still too high, people have seen them lower at the pumps than they were before the intervention. People see that with their own eyes because we took the decision to reduce the excise on diesel, even going beyond what was allowed under the energy tax directive to reduce it further. We also took the decision to reduce petrol and green diesel costs. Yesterday, we announced two significant support schemes for crucial sectors of the economy - farmers, fishers, farm contractors and hauliers.”
“I want to be really clear that the Government does not give any direction to An Garda Síochána in terms of implementation of the laws of the land. Anybody who participates in peaceful protest is entirely in accordance with the laws of the land. Peaceful protest is an important part of our democracy. I have participated in protests and I have been protested at. Protest is a good thing in our democracy. What is not a good thing in a democracy is breaking the law, and anyone who breaks the law will face the consequences of the law, as An Garda Síochána applies laws without fear or favour.”
“If Deputy Guirke wants to send the specific details to the Minister, Deputy Naughton, I will ask that she comes back to him directly.”
“I thank Deputy Guirke for raising this issue in relation to Shannen and her children. I am pleased to hear that Evie is thriving but I very much take the point about people wanting their child to be able to thrive in their own community and not be isolated from that community. I take the point. There is also anxiety as to whether Fionn will have an appropriate place. The budget we are working through for 2026 allocated funding for 433 additional special classes. Of these, 432 have been sanctioned and this week the Government allocated significant additional resources to the Department of education. Much of this will be for special education to increase further the number of classes. I believe we will need a number much closer to 600 by this September.”
“The Minister wrote directly to all farmers in advance of the changes, and officials from the Department continue to engage with farm organisations - it is very important for all of us to listen and engage on this issue - and with the livestock marts to try to guide them through the changes. I am aware of the financial impact and I will discuss with the Minister the points Deputy Roche has made on compensation schemes and changes. I know changes were made to the scheme in 2023. I will discuss the matter with the Minister, Deputy Heydon.”
“I thank Deputy Roche for raising this matter. I know he has been engaging with the Minister for agriculture on this issue also and I thank him for it. We all know a TB breakdown can cause significant emotional and financial impacts on farms, and the recent changes are necessary to help drive down the levels and prevent more farmers experiencing these very difficult impacts. The changes are targeted to ensure they focus on a group of animals that are responsible for the largest number of reactors, namely cows, while also ensuring farmers can continue to sell them at livestock marts to achieve a competitive price.”
“I thank Deputy Kenny for raising this issue on his own behalf and on behalf of Councillor Rasmussen. They represent a beautiful part of this country. I know so many people who live there and who visit there from home and abroad. I take seriously the points the Deputy makes in relation to garda numbers in Cobh, in Carrigtwohill and in the area more widely, and in relation to the operating hours of the Garda station. I will ask the Minister for justice to engage directly with the Garda Commissioner who is responsible for the deployment of gardaí. We are now seeing a significant increase in the Garda budget and in garda numbers in Templemore. I will raise the Deputy's concerns directly with the Minister.”
“I thank Deputy O'Callaghan for raising the issue in relation to the need for a new emergency department for Beaumont Hospital. I accept that the Deputy is accurate. This is something that has been long discussed and much needed in Beaumont. I do not have the specifics in front of me here, so I do not want to give the Deputy or his constituents false information but it is my understanding that it is part of the HSE's capital plan. I will ask the Minister for Health to come back to the Deputy directly in terms of a timeline. I also hope that some of these projects can be progressed in the healthcare space using the critical infrastructure legislation and other common-sense ways to try to speed up processes, with processes in parallel. I accept that emergency department is badly needed.”
“We do have a very extensive post office network in addition to the sorting offices. I will ask the chief executive of An Post to engage with the Deputy.”
“As I was listening to what the Deputy was saying, I also had colleagues here saying to me that they are not unfamiliar with the significant inconvenience, anxiety and practical issues it can cause for constituents, including the constituents the Deputy referred to. On foot of the issue being raised by Deputy Murphy, I will ask the Minister and the chief executive of An Post to examine the specifics of the issue the Deputy mentioned about the proposed move of the sorting office from Edmondstown to Lucan. We also have to look at the opportunities to use local post offices and collection points there as well. An Post needs to think outside the box and be flexible as well. There are practical ways people need to go about collecting post, collecting parcels and like.”
“There are very clear protocols in place, as Deputy Kenny said, in relation to these issues. I am very sorry to hear about those two cases. The Minister for Health will engage with the Deputy directly.”
“I take Deputy Kenny fully at his word and do not doubt in any way the accuracy or bona fides of what he has shared with the House. I also accept the HSE is often very busy and under pressure. There are very many fine people who work in our health service and we thank them for that. There is, however, no excuse for anybody, no matter how busy they are, to discharge somebody without making sure there is an appropriate care plan in place. Surprising relatives and the like is not an acceptable thing to happen. I am not doubting the Deputy but on foot of him raising it, perhaps he will share the details, if he would not mind, in a confidential and an appropriate manner with the Minister for Health. I will ask that she would directly pursue that with the HSE.”
“An addendum is to be added to the invitation to tender shortly. The short-listed parties have been issued a clarification. It is expected the tenders will be returned approximately two weeks after that addendum in the second quarter of this year. The timeline remains on track. I will get a detailed note sent to the Deputy by the Minister, Deputy Naughton.”
“I acknowledge that this is certainly not the first time Deputy Heneghan has raised this issue in the House. The Deputy raises it almost every time we meet, either formally or informally, around this building. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta for all the work he is doing in relation to it. It is now one of the 105 large-scale school building projects that will go to tender and-or construction during 2026 and 2027. In other words, the project is definitely moving forward. The 600-pupil post-primary school project was authorised to proceed to tender on 12 November 2025. The invitation to tender issued on 28 November 2025 through the eTender portal. A request for an extension to the tender return period was granted. The school has also been granted a two-classroom special educational needs unit to be configured within the existing layout.”
“That is the direction the Taoiseach and I gave a special Cabinet committee on the flood damage. There is currently an application in from eight local authorities, of which Monaghan is one. That is now being assessed. I am not saying this to be difficult but I am not sure if we have one in yet from Cavan. On foot of the Deputy raising this, I will follow that up. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, who is in that Department, will also link in with the Deputy on it.”
“I thank Deputy Maxwell for raising this. It is not the first time he has raised it with me. I know his constituency in Cavan and Monaghan has been significantly impacted by Storm Chandra. While we have increased the funding for roads in Cavan and Monaghan, which is important - there is an increase in the funding in 2026 versus 2025 - I want to see that money, and more importantly the Deputy wants to see that money, in Cavan and Monaghan being spent as it was intended and not sucked up by the road damage. We have gone out to the councils. When I say "we" I mean the Department of Transport has gone out to the councils and asked them to come back to us in terms of their storm damage so we can see if we can allocate additional funding for that storm damage within the Department of Transport Vote.”
“While I am on my feet, I welcome the youth advisory panel who Deputy Keira Keogh, Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Children and Equality, said are in the Gallery. I know they spoke so very well yesterday on the topic of online safety. I think there are representatives form Webwise, Youthwork Ireland, the NYCI and the Ombudsman for Children's Office. I welcome them to Leinster House and thank them for being here.”
“I thank Deputy Donnelly. I am very proud to be a member of the Government that has introduced the DEIS plus programme. For the first time ever in the history of the State, we now have DEIS plus and I thank the Minister, Deputy Naughton, for her work on that. The Deputy and I have discussed this before. It is a start. The schools have been chosen on the basis of need, with criteria that are above and beyond politics in terms of trying to identify those most in need. That is not to say we do not wish to see DEIS plus expanded or rolled out further. Of course we do. On the other specific issues, including HSE-related issues, I will ask both the Minister for Health and the Minister for education to come back to the Deputy.”
“I thank Deputy O'Shea for raising this issue with me and with the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, here who has responsibility for rural transport as well. I am pleased to see the investment in rural transport in Cork increased by 46% between 2024 and 2025 to more than €7.2 million. To the Deputy's point about Cork, passenger numbers on the rural routes are increasing by 95% so there is clear demand for this as well. I thank the Deputy particularly for raising the proposed new bus route 515 under the Connecting Ireland rural mobility programme. I know this is something the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, is very supportive of as well. It would serve a number of villages the Deputy has outlined in Cork North-West. The NTA tells me it is planning the advancement of these routes but has not yet given me a date for implementation.”
“I thank Deputy McGrath for raising this issue. I will speak to the Minister, Deputy Burke, on this matter today. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, has told me he has spoken to him as well today. Pfizer is a great company and has been a great employer in the Deputy's own community but also in this country. I would like to have a better and deeper understanding of this and I am obviously very eager to support workers who are impacted. I know my immediate consideration today, and that of Deputy McGrath and the Minister of State, will be for the employees affected. All arms of the Government will work with them, but I will speak to the Minister on this today and ask that he also contact the Deputy.”
“I thank Deputy O'Flynn for raising this issue. On foot of him specifically raising that area, I will ask the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, who has responsibility for this area, to come back to him directly. The broader point as to how we make sure we can retrofit and make homes warm for people to live in and to have a higher standard more quickly is absolutely at the core of what we need to be doing now. We have so much discussion in this House about fossil fuels and chaos caused in the world. Actually, the action the Deputy outlined is the sort of step we need to be taking. We are eager to do more in this space. We have seen a significant increase in applications but I will ask the Minister to come back to the Deputy.”
“I thank Deputy Healy and acknowledge this is not the first time he has raised it in this House. It does seem to have been going on for a very long time. Truthfully, I do not know the factual reason, whether it is regarding an inability to recruit or not. I know it often can be. The Deputy also raised the issue in relation to the transfer of services. On foot of him raising it again, I will ask that the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, interact with him directly on this matter.”
“I will also point out, as I am sitting beside the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, that a number of funds are available to try to help communities, particularly to tackle disadvantage, and perhaps I will ask the Minister of State to speak to Deputy Cummins on that too.”
“I thank Deputy Cummins for bringing up the issue and I will have a look at that report. The question she is raising is a broader one that arises from time to time, where there is a model that works well in parts of the city or of our country and there are other communities saying that they too could benefit from that model. I am going from my memory now, but I know there was work to be undertaken towards the end of the last Government in terms of how we embed that good practice in other communities. On foot of the Deputy raising this today, I will link in with the Department of the Taoiseach, which is co-ordinating that.”
“Last year alone, more than 106,000 referrals were received by Tusla. There are over 6,000 children in foster care with foster parents or in registered centres doing well. The vast majority of children in care are thriving and are being well looked after. The vast majority of them are in education or training. That is not to take away from the harrowing failures. The Government will of course want to receive a full report from Tusla on this. I acknowledge that Tusla is working hard on this. We are seeing a reduction in the reliance on SEAs. We need to see an acceleration of that. We are seeing that against a backdrop of a greatly increased number of referrals. There can be no escaping the law in terms of any consequences for anyone who has breached the law.”
“There are laws if anybody has committed a criminal act against a vulnerable child in this country and those laws need to be enforced. I understand there have been five Garda referrals and six centres were closed over a period.”
“I agree with a lot of what the Deputy said in the sense of these being extraordinarily harrowing cases involving extraordinarily vulnerable children. I want to answer his question. I know all of us in this House would say that these children do matter. Their voices do matter. All of us need to be their voice. I did have a good conversation with the CEO of Tusla earlier, with whom I have regular engagements. Tusla is making real progress in terms of opening more centres and reducing the reliance on what are called special emergency arrangements, SEAs. Alongside that, and regardless of it, there are laws in this country that have to be applied too. There are also matters that I believe are matters for An Garda Síochána.”
“It is very important that Deputies come to this House and highlight where they believe there is room for improvement or gaps where people cannot qualify. That is separate to the drugs piece, which I am not getting involved in because they are commercial negotiations. We can of course have those broader conversations about how we help all our citizens in the context of the upcoming budget.”
“The Deputy is right. It is always a milestone moment in relation to the consideration of any new medicine for Irish patients when the NCPE produces its report and that has obviously happened. The next step is for the HSE to invite the company to initiate commercial negotiations. Following that step, clinical submissions are considered and so too are patient submissions. That is important so that the voices of the women the Deputy referenced can be heard in this process. Clinical submissions and patient submissions are considered, as well as the outworkings of the commercial negotiation. Ultimately, the HSE drugs group sends its recommendation to the HSE leadership team. That is the process that will be undertaken. I am very proud of the work we have done together, as a Government, in terms of the free HRT scheme. I think we all are.”
“I take the point the Deputy made about certain women who cannot access other treatments. I take very seriously the point he made about cancer patients and also cancer survivors. In terms of modifying the free HRT programme to include non-hormonal treatment - I will not comment on the specific drug given the negotiations, as I do not want to cut across that - but any of the more broad matters concerning the programme and the likes are a matter for budget time. I am very happy to engage with the Deputy on that then. The main thing now is for the HSE to contact the company and get into commercial negotiations.”
“The factual position now is that the HSE will contact the company with a view to commencing commercial negotiations. I want to be very careful not to interfere with that. The Deputy is not doing that either. We need to allow the HSE to do its job in terms of carrying out that commercial negotiation. We are now spending €4 billion a year on drugs, which is good, as we need to do so. That is more than the budget of many stand-alone Departments. The budget for the Department of justice is probably around €6 billion. We are spending €4 billion on our drugs budget, so we have to allow the HSE do its commercial negotiation and get the best value for the taxpayer because obviously if it does not, it will affect the ability to purchase other drugs as well. I recognise the importance of timely access to new medicines.”
“It is for the treatment of moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause. On foot of a rapid review by the NCPE, the body that reviews medicines on behalf of the State, the HSE commissioned a full health technology assessment, HTA, on 8 April 2024, as per agreed processes. Often the State gets blamed for being slow but it is important to say that 16 months passed before the company submitted the completed HTA dossier. I say that because people often ask why the Government does not move quicker. Sixteen months passed from when the NCPE said it was going to carry out the HTA to when the company submitted the dossier. That fact should be made known as well. When the NCPE did receive the full dossier it carried out its work and, as the Deputy says, it issued a report. I thank the NCPE for the work it is doing.”
“I thank the Deputy very much for raising this important matter. I acknowledge that, as he rightly reminded the House, this is not the first time he has raised this issue here, and directly with the Minister for Health as well. There has been a welcome and renewed policy focus in this House and from the Government on the importance of HRT treatment and accessibility to the free HRT programme. I thank my colleague the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, for the work she has done in getting this programme up and running that is helping many women across the country. I say that before getting to the Deputy's specific point. He raised the medicine, Veoza. My understanding is that the HSE received an application for pricing and reimbursement of Veoza on 9 February 2024 from the pharma company.”
“It is important to say that there are around 6,000 children in our care system, living with foster parents and in registered centres. The vast majority are in education and training. It is also true, in fairness to the Minister, Deputy Foley, who is working hard on this matter, that she secured an increase in the Tusla budget of €177 million this year on top of an additional €53 million in additional capital funding. The use of these centres is decreasing and Tusla is determined to continue to decrease it.”
“I need to be very careful here. There are extraordinarily harrowing cases that deserve and require a full investigation. I know that, over time, there have been five referrals to An Garda Síochána. The gardaí do their job very well but we should also acknowledge that Tusla is not the problem here. Tusla is working with children in very vulnerable and complex situations. It is not acceptable for any child to have an adverse or bad experience but it is important to say that-----”
“There are also internal monitoring teams in Tusla, which have carried out 300 visits. It is also true that there has been an increase in the number of children requiring care, as the Deputy knows. We have seen an increase in the number of separated children seeking international protection. That reduced a lot compared with what it was a year or 18 months ago. Tusla is having to deal in real time with these pressures. It is very serious.”