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.”
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“I thank Deputy Collins for raising what is clearly a very sensitive matter but he does so with the affected family's consent. I want to reply with the same sensitivity. I am conscious that this is a public forum but my heart goes out to that man and his family in what is an extraordinarily difficult and challenging time. I am also concerned by some of what the Deputy has said there. I will immediately ask the Minister for Health to look into that matter, engage with the Deputy and get back to him directly to see what can be done to assist.”
“I will absolutely ensure that Deputy O'Gorman is also briefed in relation to this situation. I am being intentionally cautious in what I say until I speak directly to the Department of foreign affairs on this because of the active nature of the case that the Deputy has raised today. I appreciate the seriousness of it and appreciate the importance of timely intervention. I will seek the latest from the Department as soon as I leave here and will come back to Deputies Rice and O'Gorman on it shortly.”
“I thank Deputy Rice for raising this important issue. I want to treat the issue with the seriousness it deserves in terms of getting the latest update from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. I will make sure that the Department makes contact with Deputy Rice today in relation to that issue. I will not say anything regarding an ongoing case in the European Union but I know that the consular service in support of our embassy is always very active in relation to these issues. I will link directly with our embassy and make contact with Deputy Rice later today in relation to this case in terms of seeing what supports are being provided and the latest view on the matter.”
“I am expecting the first of those to be published in January 2026. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, to correspond with the Deputy on it.”
“I thank Deputy Ahern for his question. Obviously, in terms of debating these things, that is a matter for the Business Committee but I have no issue with debates taking place. There is a lot of legislation to get through between now and the Christmas break but I am sure there will be an opportunity to debate and discuss the transport plan. I would make a number of points on it. First, we are investing a very significant amount in the capital budget of the Department of Transport. Second, I do not think it is either-or in terms of road infrastructure or public transport. We need to do both and in all of our constituencies our constituents are keeping us under pressure to do both. Third, the NDP is not the final word on the matter. There will be an annual TII capital plan published for projects below €200 million.”
“I thank Deputy Doherty. The position of the Government remains the same and as outlined in the programme for Government in terms of our concerns regarding the Mercosur deal. A lot of significant work is being undertaken, in particular by the Minister for agriculture and other Government colleagues, to engage with other like-minded countries or those which have similar concerns about the Mercosur deal to ascertain whether the blocking minority remains in place. The Government still has concerns about the Mercosur deal, despite some of the protocols that have been announced. We continue to engage with those like-minded countries and will continue to engage directly with farming organisations. The Government's position has not changed.”
“I thank Deputy Roche. I do not want to comment on a specific case for obvious reasons, including the fact that there are appeals mechanisms open and anybody can appeal a valuation to the Valuation Tribunal. The business to which the Deputy referred may or may not have done that. The level of increase to which the Deputy referred is not the general experience but is cause for concern. Perhaps we can have engagement with the Minister for local government and my Department on these issues in Galway. Now more than ever we have to support indigenous industry. We spoke about multinationals earlier. We benefit hugely from foreign direct investment into this country. It is a really good thing in terms of job creation and revenue. A majority of people in this country are employed in Irish SMEs and we want to continue to support Irish business.”
“Next week we will welcome our Galway council group to Government Buildings for engagement. Perhaps we can have further discussions on this then.”
“Regulations to support the making of a rate waiver scheme require a local authority to consult with the public in its administrative area and get the views of the public. It is never the purpose of a revaluation to increase the commercial rates collected. Sometimes this is a misnomer. It is actually about balancing. Where somebody's goes down or somebody else's goes up, the pile stays the same size. I am told by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage that large increases are rare, although I am sure they can happen. The Deputy has outlined one very large example about which I want to learn more. I have also been told that in terms of revaluations to date, the trend is that about 60% of ratepayers have experienced a decrease in their commercial rates bill.”
“Local authorities are using have used this new legal framework since January 2024. Provisions include new rate waiver schemes to be decided by local authority members as part of the annual budget process. I do not say that pressure on councillors; I know they often have a difficult job to do in making everything add up. There is now an ability to have a rates waiver scheme and this is designed to support not just national policy objectives but local policy objectives that Galway County Council might have in terms of certain initiatives it wants to see take place in rural communities. It is now open to local authorities to design a waiver scheme that supports their county development plans and local economic and community plans.”
“I had the pleasure of being with the Deputy in an abbey in Craughwell and in Kylemore recently, where we spoke to cheese producers. Rural Ireland is the beating heart of our indigenous economy. The Deputy raised a specific issue regarding rates and I thank him for doing so. It is stating the obvious to say that commercial rates are an important contributor to the funding base of any local authority in terms of the provision of services. It is important that we are always aware of the challenges that can sometimes be posed to ratepayers and employ the suite of options available to try to support them. This is governed under the Local Government Rates and Other Matters Act 2019, which was commenced in late 2023. I am informed that this adds to the suite of options already available to local authority to try to support local businesses.”
“I thank Deputy Roche for raising the issue. I agree that we do not want people who are running a business to decide it makes economic sense to run it from their home. Last Friday, I was in Macroom where we saw the opposite. I met a woman called Nickie who owns a business called Juniper Lane, which makes homemade products, including jewellery and the like - very nice stuff. She had been doing that work from home and availed of a Government grant for a derelict property and converted an old derelict pub on the main street of Macroom. She took the business from her kitchen table onto the main street and brought a derelict building back into use. That is the direction of travel in which we want to go as a Government. It is important in terms of the vitality of main streets, in particular in rural communities.”
“We are not planning on opening the budget process again because we are delivering one annual budget. Within the context of the budget we delivered, we have delivered a progressive budget. The budget documentation shows it is a progressive budget, helping those most in need over those who have the most. That is the budget we ran. That is the budgetary process and we will continue to run progressive budgets. In the context of that we have made a number of decisions to increase weekly supports to people with a disability and invest significantly in services for people with a disability. Work is under way on the development of a cost-of-disability payment and we want to work in partnership with representative groups and political parties on getting that right.”
“You make people poorer by continuing to go along in the hope that everything is grand and wake up one day and realise that, actually, the fiscal vulnerabilities that in the paper that I published yesterday in the Department of Finance have come to be realised.”
“I make the point that is about supporting jobs and building homes. That is the difference between the Deputy's ideology and ours. He is proud of that difference and I am proud of that as well. We have a different view in on this. The multinational jobs in this country are important. They help to actually fund through income and corporation taxes the running of this State and it is a bloody good thing we have them. We need to work to continue to make sure we attract investment in to this country, particularly at such a volatile time. Does the Deputy know how to make people poorer in the country?”
“-----but we need to build apartments. All of the decisions we take are to protect jobs because that is how we keep people in employment, and it is also how we run the country in terms of funding public services and we also make sure we can stimulate the building of houses and apartments in this country. These are good things to do. However, I want people with a disability to know, as I have directly said in reply to Deputy O'Callaghan, unlike Deputy Murphy's comment, that we have not abandoned anything. Work is under way on a cost-of-disability payment and as recently as this week organisations representing people with a disability did not need to stand outside the gates, they were in the Department helping engage on this very payment.”
“We need to continue to make sure we support policies in this country that attract the jobs because there are many people in the Deputy's constituency and mine that got in a car this morning and drove to work in one of those multinationals that he dismisses our support for as though it is irrelevant. He also mentioned our support for "developers". He likes to call them "developers" because that is, in his view, a dirty word. I like to call them people who build houses and people who build houses in a housing emergency. It is a serious point. Deputy Murphy can laugh and have his little ideological view of the world-----”
“I know we have different political views, but the Deputy makes these snide comments saying all we care about is helping the multinationals. Did he see the Exchequer returns yesterday? What does he want us to do - send the jobs and the money back, somewhere else? We are very proud to be a Government that is pro-enterprise, and we are going to continue to pursue policies to keep jobs in Ireland, to keep revenue in Ireland, because that is helping to fund the country. It is helping to provide so many employment opportunities, including in the Deputy's constituency. He is getting very close to the "Ah, sure, send them all away" brigade.”
“I want to talk to those people and for them to know there are a number of measures in place to help people with energy poverty this winter. If someone is an older person living alone, this week, he or she will, quite rightly, have received a double payment of their State pension. Older people will receive the fuel allowance, which is now up to over €1,000 a year. That fuel allowance is due to go up again in the new year. They will see the household benefit package in terms of that cost coming off their energy bill, which is worth over €400, during this period. We have reduced the VAT rate which other parties proposed allowing that go back up including some who thought the rate should go back up in April. We did not do that. We have extended that for quite number of years more.”
“Surely, the Deputy would acknowledge that, while we would like to see inflation fall further, that inflation both in Ireland and in the eurozone is at a much lower level than it was when those cost-of-living packages were brought in. The inflation was off the Richter scale for a period. It may be the Deputy's position, and in fairness to him I think it is as he is quite clear about it, that he wants to have two annual budgets effectively - a budget that runs from now to Christmas and then another budget that runs next year. We cannot run the economy like that. We just cannot; it is not sustainable. We have to get back to an annual budget and that is what we said we were going to do, and that is what we have done this year. The Deputy talked about a cold winter. I am really conscious that people look in on this from home.”
“I do not remember the Deputy welcoming budgets where we brought in cost-of-living measures before the election. He is kind of opining wishing we had the budgets of the past number of years. I do not remember him ever supporting measures we brought into this House over the past several years to try and assist people at a time of extraordinarily high levels of inflation. The Deputy seeks to slag Paschal Donohoe, whose view I would take on the economy more seriously than his, for his views and call them nonsense. There is a reason the World Bank hired him. It is because he knows a few things about economics.”
“However, I would push back somewhat on the idea that the budget did not prioritise disability services because as the figures clearly show, there were a number of areas where we quite rightly took a conscious decision to significantly increase the level of funding to our disability services. We are seeing the benefits of that now in some areas, including CDNTs and the numbers of staff on them. The Deputy asked when we would listen; we are listening. He asked when we would engage; we are engaging. We want to work in collaboration with representative groups. Indeed, we would welcome the Deputy's own input as we seek to design the payment.”
“The Minister, Deputy Calleary, is eager to work collaboratively and is eager to engage with the Social Democrats and others on the composition of a cost-of-disability payment, what it looks like and who qualifies. He will engage with the Deputy and others on that. I have provided a status update in the sense that that work is under way with groups in the Department of Social Protection this week specifically on the issue of a cost-of-disability payment; I welcome that. I accept that it is something that has been discussed and debated in this country for a significant period.”
“We are engaging collaboratively on that with groups, organisations and people with a disability. I know it is something that the Minister, Deputy Calleary, will be working on in the months ahead.”
“The budget did, though, make a very big investment in disabilities. Even organisations have accepted this in other areas. In the capital budget for disability to deliver the specialist disability infrastructure that we need across the country, the respite facilities, the residential homes, the multidisciplinary teams, we have seen a doubling of the current capital levels. We had €278 million announced in terms of disability services in the capital plan only this week. Quite rightly we also saw a very significant increase in the level of funding for disability services in the HSE with hundreds of millions of euro extra in funding provided. It was one of the largest areas of increase in the budget but I accept and Government accepts the work on the permanent cost-of-disability payment is an important piece of work.”
“I am pleased to tell him that there was a meeting as recently as this week where groups representing people with a disability were in with the Department of Social Protection to discuss the work on designing that payment. That is something that the Minister, Deputy Calleary, is leading on, something on which he will have the support of Government as well. We also made another change so that people who are leaving the disability allowance to move into employment are able to retain their fuel allowance, something people had sought for quite a period of time. This is the week in which the Christmas bonus is being played out. It is the last of the direct one-off cost-of-living payments to help people at this period. It is being paid out to people in receipt of disability allowance and indeed other payments too.”
“We were always very clear that we were moving away from the temporary measures that were brought in at a time inflation was extraordinarily high. We were very clear on that and we have to be clear on it because we have to make sure that we move back to a regular rhythm of an annual budget with clear parameters that works. As part of that, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Calleary, specifically increased the disability allowance, increased the domiciliary care allowance and made improvements to payments for carers as well. I agree with the Deputy, the Minister agrees with him and the Government as a whole agrees with him on the importance of a cost-of-disability payment.”
“Disability issues and disability services are an absolute priority for this Government. That is why one of the things the Deputy will have seen published in the past number of months was the new national human rights strategy for disabled people, which is a really good piece of work. A huge amount of work was done with representative groups and with people with disabilities directly. It is a Government strategy that involves all parts of government. Because the Deputy has raised it, I will deal with it directly. He raised a very specific issue in relation to costs. It is a very valid and important issue. All aspects of how the State's policies interact with people with a disability respect their human rights and enable them to live their lives. We took a number of decisions on permanent increases in this budget.”
“There are some signs of positivity in Garda recruitment at the moment, albeit admitting that, with the closure of the college twice during Covid and the financial crash, there was lost time, which caused significant disruption. We have also made changes to the recruitment age, the maximum age at which someone can join An Garda Síochána and the retirement age, and we have seen some positive effects from that too. I will take the points the Deputy made back to the Minister for his conversation with the Garda Commissioner about matching investment in Garda stations and population growth. It is not an unfair point. Many parts of this country are growing much more quickly than other parts. The other issues of how to improve incentivisation for recruitment and retention are matters for the normal engagement and industrial relations.”
“I acknowledge the point the Deputy makes, and do not want to jump over it, that it is not now an issue of shortage of money. It used to be. It is an issue now where we are actually able to invest properly, but that also means that we need to look at the processes. If 11,000 people put up their hand and say they want to join An Garda Síochána, the Minister for justice and the Garda Commissioner are eager to make sure that the pipeline is as efficient as possible in taking expressions of interest to join An Garda Síochána, robustly vetting and training those individuals and then having them on the streets, serving the people of this country and keeping people safe as well.”
“Specifically on the third point, about Garda capital, I know the Minister for justice had approval at Cabinet this week for the Garda sectoral plan, as part of the sectoral investment plan in justice. That will see a significant increase in the number of Garda stations being constructed in the time ahead. I am conscious of the point the Deputy makes and I will talk to the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, about this, particularly with the fast-growing populations around Swords, Donabate and the likes, and the particular need for additional infrastructure there. I will ask the Minister to come back on that.”
“As of October this year, which is the latest month for which numbers are available, there are a total of 14,290 gardaí across the State. For comparison, in 2015, there were 12,816. There are now 3,487 Garda staff, which obviously helps to free up gardaí to put them on front-line duties as well. The Deputy asked specifically about the Garda training allowance and pension. I hear these issues too. I was in Coolock Garda station not too long ago. This discussion came up last year too. I need to say that all of these matters are for discussion and engagement through normal processes, public pay processes and the likes, rather than for me to give loose commitments on the floor of the Dáil.”
“There is genuinely a sense when I talk to the Minister and Garda authorities, as the Deputy can probably see himself, that there is some momentum with the number of people going into Templemore, though I admit it has been a challenging number of years. We saw, for example, 194 gardaí attested last week. This brings the total number of newly attested gardaí so far this year to 617. We saw 223 trainees enter Templemore in the last couple of weeks as well. This was the largest intake in Templemore since 2014, so the largest intake in 11 years. We have seen 794 trainees enter Templemore so far this year, which is the most since 2018. There are larger attestations, the largest training classes going on and the largest number of people overall training in Templemore in many years.”
“I agree with the Deputy that we obviously need to get more gardaí on our streets. We need to recruit and train more gardaí. The Deputy has made some suggestions as to how he thinks that can be done and I will come back to that in a moment. I need to make a few points about the level of investment we are now making in the Garda budget to empower the Garda Commissioner and Garda authorities to increase the numbers. We have a Garda budget of €2.59 billion for next year. This will fund recruitment of up to 1,000 new gardaí and 200 more Garda staff and also a doubling of the Garda Reserve to over 600 next year. We have run two Garda recruitment campaigns in 2025 and we have seen more than 11,000 applications to join An Garda Síochána received this year.”
“We are reducing fees in this jurisdiction. Fees in the North are more than double, and Sinn Féin thought to take to social media to say this was great news. Sinn Féin are hypocrites. People see through it and that is why they are sitting over there, giving out, rather than actually being in government, because they have no credibility on this. They say one thing here and do the exact opposite in Northern Ireland. Shame.”
“You can debate the use of the word "sensible", Pearse, but one thing is for sure, no one would ever call you "Prudent Pearse". Had we followed the economic plans of Deputy Doherty's party, God knows where we would be. He has some cheek, coming into this House and raising the issue of college fees, because I am sitting beside a Minister for higher education who has permanently reduced fees and will continue to do so in the time ahead.”
“It is a welcome development. We will commit, with Deputy Doherty and everyone in this House, to delivering during the lifetime of the Government the kind of childcare system on which I believe there is almost a consensus. Childcare is not just a social issue but is now a real economic one as well. The Deputy should please not continue to come into this House and misrepresent what the Government is doing. The Government has taken action to stimulate housing supply. It has taken action through the budget to help in respect of jobs in rural and regional Ireland, in towns and villages including in County Donegal in the hospitality sector. We have also taken measures to help people with the cost of living, starting with those most in need.”
“As we speak today, people right across the country are seeing the benefit of the Christmas bonus. This initiative, which costs around €370 million from the budget, is to assist pensioners, carers, people with a disability, those on low incomes and vulnerable people. We will see further expansions to the fuel allowance. We have reduced the VAT rate applying to energy costs to 9%, permanently, or certainly for many years to come. These are practical measures. The Minister for children will update the Government this month on an action plan on childcare. This week, as Deputy Doherty will be glad to know because he is very worried about this, as he should be because it is a big issue, the Minister announced a capital plan that will see a very significant level of funding for State-led childcare facilities. I am sure the Deputy welcomes this.”
“For example, we introduced the largest ever increase in the child support payment, under the Minister, Deputy Calleary. It is a targeted measure to help low-income families and children most in need. We have extended the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance to preschool children, helping those children most in need and their parents with the cost of going to preschool. We have increased the domiciliary care allowance. We have expanded eligibility for student grants under the Minister, Deputy Lawless, meaning more families are benefiting. We have continued with the roll-out of free schoolbooks and free hot meals. All these measures assist families with the cost of living in the here and now. We have expanded the working family payment so more families can qualify. We have increased the State pension.”
“The Deputy’s cacophony of assistance here is great. What was implied is obviously not reflective of how a programme for Government works. To the people at home, I say we have a programme for Government that commits to what we are going to do over five years. It is a published document, available on gov.ie . We have only delivered budget one of five. The Deputy will be pleased to know there will be another four. He will be 19 years delivering his ripostes to our budgets by the end of this Dáil term. We will deliver four more budgets. In the most recent budget, which the Deputy again fails to acknowledge, we have already taken a number of measures to assist people with the cost of living, and we have tried to target those most in need, which I believed the Deputy might support.”
“First, he suggests that everything said during an election campaign and stated in a programme for Government must be implemented immediately. The people of Ireland are not stupid.”
“It is against this backdrop that we will continue to pursue sensible economic policies. It is not that long ago since we had high unemployment in this country and people felt they could not get a job. It is not that long ago since we had ghost estates in this country. It is not that long ago since we had to seek help from others to keep the economy running. That is why we will continue to run budget surpluses. It is why we will continue to put money into funds to protect the economy from any shocks, despite Deputy Doherty objecting to the legislation to establish those funds. It is why we will continue to be prudent and sensible in the time ahead. The Deputy continually comes to this House and does two things.”
“Of course, Deputy Doherty chose not to start today, in his question about our economy and the budget, with the economic figures that have been published in the past hour, which show that, thanks to sensible and careful management, we have an economy that is performing well. We see modified domestic demand, which is pretty much a good proxy for domestic economic activity, growing by 5% annually for the third year. We see consumer spending remaining good, with record solid growth of 2.5%. We see investment in building and construction contributing positively to growth in the third quarter, and we see activity in the sector expanding by close to 9% annually. That is what we want to see at a time when we want to build more homes and infrastructure. We see employment growth as well and an economy doing well in a very challenging environment.”
“I thank Deputy Murphy for raising this matter. These are always sensitive and important issues to try to get right. I know local councillors try to grapple with what the right approach is on this. I note that different parties, including some Opposition parties, have voted in different ways on this on different councils. I think the lead Opposition party voted one way on South Dublin County Council and voted a different way on Dublin City Council. I am not sure what the policy difference was in terms of why it voted in two different ways. We are trying to get the balance right. We are taking a number of measures to try to assist people with housing and poverty. We will continue to trust our councillors to monitor this on a case-by-case basis per local authority.”
“I try to stop myself doing it as well, because I can stand here and point to there being X number of more places. That might be true, but it is also only a cause of frustration for a parent who does not have a place. I take that point, which is a fair one. In relation to the three specific cases the Deputy raised, I will notify the Minister for education and the NCSE of her intention to follow up on those. On the broader point in relation to the capacity in Kildare South, I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, to revert to the Deputy.”
“As is often the case, Deputy Burke is correct on this. There is a real blockage here, which is that it cannot all be left to the market. I meet people in my constituency and around the country, often young professional people, who they want to open a childcare facility. They are well up for it, ready and qualified but they gave to face upfront costs, startup costs, rents and capital costs. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Foley, to specifically consider the Deputy's comments in the context of the new action plan on childcare that will be published early next year. Today, the Minister has, or is about to, announce our capital funding plan for childcare, which will see very significant funding, for the first time really at scale, for State-led childcare facilities. Perhaps we can fold the Deputy's comments into that conversation as well.”
“I thank the Deputy for his constructive contribution and the idea of an accelerator project for the IFSC. If the Deputy sends me on the details of it, I will be very happy to engage with him on it. I suggest that my colleague in the Department of Finance, the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, who has responsibility for international services, and I could have a discussion in relation to that. I would be happy to facilitate that. IFAC has a really important role today. Groupthink brought us to a moment of economic ruination before. It is important to have critical voices but the big learning from IFAC is the need to get the medium-term fiscal framework nailed down before Christmas so that we anchor our spending and taxation plans for the next number of years.”
“I thank Deputy Lawlor for highlighting this issue. Anecdotally, I have come across this as well. We are asking people who have accrued significant experience and expertise to come back and help out with a specific project, maybe when there are particular times of pressure, such as during Covid and many other occasions. Often, it can be quite a challenge to get people to come back, not necessarily because they do not want to, but because of that interplay in relation to their pensions and pension abatement. It is a complex area, as the Deputy knows, but I will talk to the Minister, Deputy Chambers, in relation to it and ask him that he revert to the Deputy on it.”
“I will not give any undertaking until I get on top of the facts of it. I will certainly get on top of the facts now and will revert to the Deputy on the issue. I can only imagine the frustration of those An Post pensioners. Allow me to seek the latest update and I will revert to the Deputy on it in writing.”
“I thank the Deputy for highlighting that. Ultimately, State agencies must always remember that they are agencies of the State. The people in this building and those in local authority chambers are the democratically elected representatives of that State. I am sorry to hear the Deputy is highlighting a real issue in terms of a lack of engagement on this. I will certainly take this back and discuss it with the Minister for Transport more broadly and I will ask him to revert to the Deputy.”