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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“Planning and preparations for our Presidency of the European Union are well under way and the phased early delivery of elements of the military radar programme in 2026 may form part of these preparations. A key focus, and a key early focus of the programme, should be our counter unmanned aerial system capability. We have a structure in place to keep the Oireachtas committee up to date and we will do that in a sensitive and appropriate way.”
“The information available to me is that the existing personnel's training needs will be the priority. Training needs will be determined and delivered as part of the delivery of the programme and will encompass equipment level training, including maintenance, as well operational and tactical level training. Training and upskilling our current personnel as opposed to additional specialist personnel is the information available to me. On sequencing, obviously I want to be transparent and helpful but also respect, as we all do, the security-sensitive deliberations in relation to the rollout of any programme being rolled out to increase our own national security.”
“All capital expenditure associated with the delivery of the programme will be met from within the capital allocations 2026 to 2030, which were recently agreed as part of the review of the national development plan. We are at a critical stage now in terms of this project and, pending a final decision on the options of delivery, it would be premature for me to make any further comment on likely costs. Training needs will be determined and delivered as part of the delivery of the programme also.”
“Yes, we do. I take the point on the value for money or good value for the taxpayer. I will update the House once we get to the point where we place contracts and the like. Obviously, securing value for money is important. The only priority above that is securing this. That is why I think wise decisions were taken in years before my occupation of this office to put in place structures where we could engage with other governments in other countries, particularly, but not exclusively, in the European Union, which may have the ability to provide this equipment to us in a quicker manner. Speed and value are absolutely key priorities. I expect to be in a position to update the Government on this very shortly and once I have done that, I will be very happy to update the Deputy, the House and the Oireachtas committee.”
“I anticipate that this phase of the programme will conclude before the end of this year, with the Government decision before the end of this year as well.”
“That being said - and this is an important message for everybody to know - elements of this capability will be rolled out in phases, starting in 2026. Our radar capacity will increase from 2026 and will be fully completed by 2028. My Department has engaged with a number of countries, including all EU member states, to ascertain their interest in supporting Ireland to deliver this capability. Based on the responses received, earlier this year I directed my officials to commence bilateral discussions with a small number of countries, with a view to assessing options for delivery. These bilateral discussions have now concluded and technical assessments of the various options for delivery of the entire programme are very close to finalisation.”
“There are three elements to the military radar programme: the land based long range primary radar; the ground based air defence, GBAD, systems, to include a counter-unmanned aerial systems, C-UAS; and the maritime ship-borne radar. This programme of work is ongoing and I am pleased to tell the Deputy that good progress has been made. When fully delivered, the recognised air picture will incorporate this suite of military radar systems, which will have the capability to detect all aircraft traversing our airspace, including any that may be operating with their transponders turned off. Full delivery of the programme will be complex because it needs to be rolled out in a sequential area. This has been prioritised with a target date of 2028 identified in the detailed implementation plan.”
“On this point we agree. A key priority for Ireland and our Defence Forces, our Naval Service and our country has to be to ensure we have as best an understanding as possible of what happens in our seas, below our waters. A key priority for me is to ensure the operational capacity of the Defence Forces is maintained and developed to get us to the level of ambition 2, LOA2, as defined by the Commission on the Defence Forces, CODF. The CODF recommended the development of a primary radar capability to ensure that Ireland can maintain a complete "recognised air picture" and that this should be an immediate and top priority.”
“I am very conscious, cognisant and satisfied all of that can happen within the current capital upgrade programmes being planned by the Defence Forces and the current levels of operation at an EU level that are consistent and in line with our military neutrality.”
“I thank Deputy Gibney very much. The point she raised around undersea cables - we may have a question on it later - is an important one because we need to have a better awareness of what is happening below our seas. The MRV programme can do that as can the radar programme. The rollout of that radar programme is priority one, two and three. It is a programme that will start to be rolled out in 2026. It will be fully rolled out by 2028, to have a better awareness of what is happening below our waters because we would all have an awareness, a very quick and clear awareness, if something went wrong in that space as well, and not just here but right across other parts of Europe. We have an obligation to ourselves and to the global community, particularly in our exclusive economic zone, EEZ, and to co-operate and collaborate in that space.”
“The Naval Service vessel renewal and replacement programme will be progressed in accordance with this. The Naval Service currently has a fleet of eight vessels. Four of the vessels are regularly deployed on maritime defence and security operations. These four vessels are the three P60 class vessels and the LÉ Aoibhinn , which is a P71. All four vessels conduct patrols on a rotation basis. I will set this out to the Deputy in a note, but the answer to her closing question is "No, they are not".”
“I am conscious when I read out the answers that a lot of these numbers and the likes are quite technical for people following this debate. I largely agree with what the Deputy has said. The replacement of the flagship LÉ Eithne with a multi-role vessel is what is provided for in the equipment development programme. It is also what is provided for in the recommendations of the Commission on the Defence Forces. That is the plan. The equipment development plan is a living document. We continue to review it. We continue to update it based on the level of funding available, organisational priorities and timing issues. The Defence Forces are currently re-evaluating all their strategic equipment and infrastructural priorities to align with the revised capital allocation they have received.”
“It is not my intention to advance the procurement of a multi-role combat vessel, but rather to address the recommendation in terms of the multi-role vessel programme.”
“Capital investment in the Naval Service vessel renewal and replacement programme is ongoing. The programme of works for the midlife refit and upgrade of the two P50 class vessels has been completed. Two P70 class inshore patrol vessels purchased from the New Zealand Government were commissioned into State service as LÉ Aoibhinn and LÉ Gobnait in 2024. The Deputy will be aware of the challenges faced by the Naval Service in recent years, and to this end I have instructed the Defence Forces to develop a regeneration plan for the Naval Service which I expect to receive in the coming weeks. This will allow for the plotting of a path forward for the future direction of the Naval Service.”
“The revised capital allocations will enable targeted progression on key elements of our commitments to get to level of ambition 2. The Commission on the Defence Forces specifically recommended a programme of naval vessel replacement under level of ambition 2 to ensure a balanced fleet of modern ships, including a multi-role vessel, is reached in the next decade. This recommendation has been accepted in principle by the Government. Preliminary work with respect to the consideration of this recommendation with the support of marine advisers is currently under way and nearing conclusion and will inform the next steps in this regard. The Naval Service currently has a fleet of eight commissioned vessels. These eight vessels consist of two P50 class large patrol vessels, four P60 class offshore patrol vessels and two P70 inshore patrol vessels.”
“The short answer is "No". I was enquiring about this recently. I have seen some media speculation in relation to this. I have been honest with the House. A major opportunity and challenge for the Defence Forces is going to be to secure a multi-role vessel programme and the upgrading of that. That is where the focus is and will remain. I am happy to provide that clarity. My priority as Minister for Defence is to ensure the operational capability of the Army, the Air Corps and the Naval Service is maintained and developed further in order to enable the Defence Forces to carry out the roles assigned by the Government. The capital funding of €1.7 billion allocated to defence in the latest national development plan up to 2030 represents an increase of €600 million on the previous baseline of €1.1 billion.”
“I welcome the recognition from the Opposition today that we are not going to extrapolate every policy issue for the next four years on the basis of an overinterpretation of the results of the presidential election.”
“I would like make a point about last year's general election. This gets mentioned a lot. In fairness to my predecessor, who is now Taoiseach, the process and the policy process of changing the triple lock was advanced in the previous Government. The Deputies will remember the comments of Micheál Martin in the previous Government. When we then went before the people - Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael - we were clearly not indicating that we were going to change that position. We had only articulated it a couple of months earlier. This Government and the previous Government have been quite clear on this. I think a majority of Irish people will come with us in relation to this issue. I think they differentiate between that issue and the question of military neutrality, as they should because I am massively in favour of military neutrality as well.”
“This is not an attempt to change Ireland's position on military neutrality; it is an attempt to change how we dispatch peacekeeping troops overseas. We would be shirking our own responsibilities as legislators who are sent here to get on with the business of debating, and who are trusted by our constituents to do that in a considerable-----”
“That is a space in which I am willing to and wanting to engage. I fully accept quite clearly that we do not agree on the issue of changing the role of the triple lock. I think the Deputy's position is to leave things as they are. I do not say that flippantly. I think that is the Deputy's position. My position is that we are going to change it. I am very happy to have a conversation about the substance of the legislation in terms of how we build in a degree of external oversight of the commitments that the legislation gives in relation to the UN Charter. I am very happy to do that. I am also happy to tease through the detail that the Deputy relayed in terms of the specificity of the UN Charter and how the legislation can look at that. I do not believe we can run back to the Irish people with a referendum on every piece of legislation.”
“I think, therefore, that the Irish people are well able to differentiate between military neutrality and amending our laws as to how we dispatch and deploy our troops overseas.”
“The President-elect was very clear in the election campaign: I heard her say many times that she would have no role at all in the substance of the legislation. She will have a very clear constitutional role, which she will discharge with distinction, as every President of Ireland ever has done. That is my first point. My second is that if we are on the issue of opinion polling - Deputy Ó Laoghaire made the point that the majority of people of Ireland do not favour the change to the triple lock - I do not have the data in front of me but I do remember seeing a poll in The Irish Times that was published only a number of weeks ago that showed opposition to changing the triple lock down and support for changing it up.”
“Deputy Murphy is deciding what motivated people to go out and vote in the presidential election, a very brave thing to do. I am not sure it tallies with any evidence we have seen from exit polling information that was published by Ireland Thinks. If we want to talk about mandates, one of the figures we should talk about is the fact that 70% of the people of Ireland who had a right to vote either did not vote in the election or chose to spoil their vote. Let us talk about that as well. I would not get carried away in making decisions on the result of a presidential election, which was resoundingly won by President-elect Connolly, and I wish her every success. We are beginning to see that Deputy Murphy will attach to the President-elect every view of every policy he wishes.”
“No, but I have a mandate to bring forward legislative proposals. I have a mandate to table draft laws, as do the Deputies opposite. I have a mandate to debate and discuss those laws, and my mandate is perfectly valid, as is the mandate of every Member of this House. The Deputies cannot pick and choose which mandates they like. We tend not to talk about the President in this House. I will not do so or talk about the President-elect other than to wish her every health, happiness and success as she prepares to take office. The Deputies should not over-interpret results from any election. Question No. 4 is a fascinating parliamentary question in that Deputy Murphy is deciding to attach motives to the Irish people. We have not seen this since de Valera had to look into his heart to decide where the Irish people stood.”
“The amendments proposed will do nothing to change Ireland's traditional position of military neutrality, which has always been characterised by Ireland's non-participation in military alliances. Our engagement overseas will continue to be firmly grounded in the principles of the UN Charter and international law and will, of course, require the consent of the democratically elected representatives of the people of Ireland.”
“I do not wish to speak for the committee, but from my rereading of the pre-legislative scrutiny report from the committee this week, I think the committee was teasing its way through that as well. I concede on the floor - not even concede but agree - that there is a need to beef up the legislation on that. I intend to bring this Bill to the Government shortly - the Deputies will ask me what "shortly" means, which is a fair question; I expect it to be within this year - and for the debate in the Oireachtas to begin thereafter. This will provide - and we should provide - ample time to work through the legislation, and I commit to providing that time from the Government's perspective. I want to make it absolutely clear that the Government has no desire to alter our policy of military neutrality.”
“Therefore, in parallel to removing the UN mandate requirement, text will be included in this Bill which will require that the mandate of future operations be consistent with, and adhere to, the principles of the UN Charter and international law. These principles are being refined to ensure appropriate legal effect as part of the drafting process. I am interested in working with the Deputies on this. We will never reach agreement on the broad policy around this - I take that point - but I am determined to bring forward legislation in this area, as is the Government, and we will do that. I am, however, very willing to work with, and in fact very enthusiastic about working with, this House to try to develop an oversight mechanism to provide independent external assurance on adherence to these principles.”
“I believe it is untenable, therefore, for the Government to continue with this policy. I again state my strong belief that such considerations on international peacekeeping engagement should be within Ireland's exclusive sovereign control and that decision-making on this should be purely within the remit of our Government and our Oireachtas, which have been democratically elected by the people of this country. I recognise, however, that in removing the UN Security Council mandate requirement there will be a need to strengthen the democratic oversight governing the ongoing deployment of Defence Forces personnel overseas.”
“I again underline that the legislation in place allows members of the UN Security Council, by means of a veto or indeed threat of same, to bind this country's hands in its international peacekeeping engagement. Recent vetoes by a UN Security Council member on a proposed resolution for a full and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza last June, as well as the challenges evidenced over the summer with regard to the extension of the UNIFIL mandate to allow peacekeepers to southern Lebanon, are ample evidence of this. With regard to the latter particularly, in the event that the UNIFIL mandate were not extended, Ireland would have been in the position of having to plan to withdraw its Defence Forces personnel from UNIFIL immediately following the expiration of the mandate.”
“The pre-legislative scrutiny process of the general scheme was completed, as Deputy Ó Laoghaire rightly says, at the end of July. This process provided the Oireachtas committee with the opportunity to examine the heads of the Bill and to hear from and bring in many relevant stakeholders on the proposed legislation. I am, as I have said, grateful to all members of the committee. There are very good proposals within these recommendations. I say that sincerely. I am working through them with my officials - indeed, I went through quite a number of them this week - as the full Bill is being drafted. Under the current proposals in the general scheme to amend the legislation, the requirement for a UN Security Council mandate will be removed.”
“I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 4 together. The committee did a very good job. The timeline for pre-legislative scrutiny is set down by the Standing Orders of this House, to the best of my knowledge. The committee kept to those timelines and produced a comprehensive report, and I thank Deputy Ó Laoghaire and all members of the committee for their work on that. As the Deputy rightly recalls, the general scheme of the defence (amendment) Bill 2025 was published on 21 May. It consolidates, with amendments, the existing provisions of the Defence Acts 1954 to 2015 concerning the dispatch of members of the Defence Forces for service outside the State. The general scheme also proposes amendments to existing legislation to provide for the suspension of members of the Defence Forces to give effect to recommendations in the 2024 Ward report.”
“We have a long pipeline of projects. The Deputy is right in that the investment should be seen as an enabler for conversations and co-operation rather than investment for investment's sake. I will give the Deputy one very quick example in the north west, where you are going to see the Magee campus in Derry developed. That is a huge opportunity for partnership with Letterkenny and Atlantic Technological University, ATU, and many benefits will come to the north west of the island from that.”
“That is right. I welcome, as the Deputy did, the all-island apprenticeship formally launched by myself, the Taoiseach, the Minister, Deputy Lawless and Minister Archibald in Farmleigh on Friday. I thank and commend the Minister, Deputy Lawless for his work on this too. As the Deputy also rightly said, all of this takes place in a context and the context is much better when the relationship between the two Governments in Ireland and the UK is good. That reset has assisted. It is also the case when the relationship between the UK and the EU is good. That relationship, and the reset taking place with regard to the agreement on a new framework and the benefits there will be for the island of Ireland and Northern Ireland, is helpful too. It is about embedding, after stops and starts over the years, the good areas of co-operation that we have.”
“Another example is mother and baby homes, where the Northern Ireland Executive and Stormont are considering issues around that. They are looking for, wanting and receiving co-operation and an exchange of information from this jurisdiction too. Storm Éowyn is another example. This is where it simply makes sense to practically co-operate, alongside all the formal, structured engagement, which is very important too. It is moving into a much better place.”
“I fully agree with Deputy Moynihan. There are officially 12 areas of co-operation that cover a broad swathe of issues under the framework, including education, transport, healthcare and environment. However, I heard the former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern make the point before, and he is entirely correct on this, that it is important that the meetings are dynamic. It is important that people move beyond their speaking points to actually having discussions about the issues that affect the people on the island of Ireland. I must say that I feel that is happening more and more. I would use gender-based violence as an example of where we have been having really good conversations around how we can do more joint research in regard to this.”
“Reflecting on the work that has been undertaken over the past 18 months since the institutions have been back up and running, we have achieved multiple concrete outcomes from engagement in this framework, from health co-operation to environmental protection to improving co-ordination on disaster preparedness to investment in joint tourism infrastructure. It is fair to say the North-South Ministerial Council now has renewed momentum. I am fully committed, as is the Government, to ensuring that it continues to drive and facilitate strong North-South co-operation, supported in its work by the joint secretariat based in Armagh.”
“How do we work better together on emergencies, be they the likes of the pandemics we had to deal with in the past, or Storm Éowyn and the lessons from that? How do we tackle gender-based violence on the island? That is a frequent topic we have quite rightly been considering in the last while and there is a lot of benefit in discussing that on an all-island basis too. A meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council in institutional format also took place on the same day. That is, effectively, where I meet with the First Minister and deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland on a number of institutional and cross-sectoral issues, including North-South bodies and EU-related matters. The outcomes of the meeting are detailed in full in the joint communiqué issued after the meeting and published on the North-South Ministerial Council website.”
“Coincidentally, I have my North-South Ministerial Council pen with me as a reminder that we only had the meeting in Farmleigh a couple of days ago - on Friday, I think. Since the restoration of the Good Friday Agreement institutions last year, there have been 31 meetings of the North-South Ministerial Council in plenary, institutional and sectoral formats. There has been a huge body of work in the roughly 18 months that the institutions have been back up and running. The most recent plenary meeting took place on Friday, 17 October in Farmleigh, hosted by the Irish Government. The meeting provided an opportunity for Ministers to discuss a wide range of issues on mutual issues of concern, including business and trade matters, infrastructure and investment co-operation and emergency planning and preparedness.”
“It is really important that we show people there is a path and if they have been knocking on the door for years, they can actually get in, particularly if they are meeting all the criteria. Enlargement will be a priority of the Irish Presidency. A number of countries, including Montenegro and Albania, could well make significant progress during that time. We are very supportive of advancing, as the Deputy knows, Ukrainian and indeed Moldovan accession, just to name a few countries. There probably is not a more pro-enlargement country in the European Union than Ireland.”
“I think a lot of the work around the multi-annual financial framework will fall to our Presidency. That is why we have taken a decision as an Irish Government to get our own priorities into the Commission in advance of that Presidency. Of course, when you take up the Presidency, you assume a role as an honest broker. I expect that to be a very busy period. I am glad the Deputy brought up enlargement. I met yesterday with the Deputy Prime Minister of Moldova after the conclusive pro-European outcome to its parliamentary elections, following on from the similar pro-European result in its presidential election. I also met with the Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro and with representatives of a number of western Balkan states in Hillsborough Castle as part of the Berlin conference about two weeks ago.”
“There are also, as part of the stakeholder engagement, a number of planned engagements with schools directly by both me and the Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs, Deputy Byrne. There will be stakeholder meetings, there will be written consultation and those stakeholder meetings will be across the generations and in a whole variety of settings. Finally, the cultural programme being developed by the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, will also be an important part of this and a real opportunity to showcase Irish culture during those six months.”
“I am really glad the Deputy raises this because I raise it all the time. There has to be and there will be a focus on schools. It is really important that this Presidency involve all the people of Ireland, most particularly the next generation of committed Europeans in this country. That opportunity, as the Deputy says, to expose young people to the first Presidency they will have lived through from their own country is really important. I have already had conversations with the Minister for Education and Youth about what a legacy for our schools could look like. I do not want to pre-empt that but we have seen in the past how we have done things like the commemoration of 1916 and how a legacy was left to our schools. We need to consider that, and the Minister, Deputy McEntee, is working on that.”
“A call for written submissions will also be launched in the coming weeks. This will ensure that all interested parties have the opportunity to have their say on the development of our Presidency priorities. Work is also under way to prepare the programme of meetings to be hosted in Ireland during the Presidency. These will include a summit of the European Political Community, an informal meeting of the European Council and 22 informal ministerial meetings. Overall, we can expect to host more than 250 Presidency events here. The Government has made a firm commitment to resource and deliver a successful Presidency. I am confident that in 2026 Ireland will be able to make a significant and positive contribution in leading the EU's agenda and shaping the future of our Union.”
“Work is ongoing to develop the priorities and the policy programme for Ireland's Presidency. This programme will be prepared against the backdrop of the EU's strategic agenda 2024-29 and the legislative work programme of the European Commission. It will also be shaped by our own priorities in relation to the European Union. The Government is consulting with other EU member states and stepping up our engagement with the EU institutions as this process of programme development continues. Our policy programme will be finalised and published shortly before the start of our Presidency term. The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that stakeholder groups in Ireland have their voices heard. My Department is preparing a series of consultation meetings with stakeholders from across civil society, business and other groups.”
“I thank Deputy Ward for this question, all his work as an Oireachtas Chairperson in this area and the genuine passion and interest I know he has in it. As colleagues will know, Ireland will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the eighth time from next July until December 2026. Preparations are well under way, led by my Department in close co-ordination with the Department of the Taoiseach and with the active participation of all Departments across the Government. This is and must be truly a whole-of-government effort. I briefed the Government earlier today on progress in our preparations, including the planning of our policy approach, and the practical and operational preparations that are under way to ensure the delivery of a successful Presidency next year.”
“It is no more than that, but we have seen hostages released, we have seen aid flowing, we have a New York declaration, we have a majority of members of the European Union now recognising a State of Palestine and we have a peace plan. Yes, it may be President Trump's peace plan but it is backed by Arab nations, many of which share our views on the future of Palestine.”
“I am aware of those discussions and we will always keep all that under active consideration. I believe, as I know the Deputy does, in multilateralism, and the world has never needed that more. At a time when it is under attack from many quarters, it is important that Ireland take every opportunity to demonstrate our support for multilateralism, the work of the UN and the UN General Assembly while also putting our money where our mouth is in practically providing additional funding to the work of the UN and its agencies. To try to find a ray of hope after an extraordinarily grim, dark, horrific time, with genocide taking place in our world and man-made famine, we now have a fragile ceasefire.”
“It is quite an important moment to have so many countries sign up to that and the implementation now and the delivery of it, which is all about a two-state solution and working with the very fragile and evolving peace plan.”
“I have been very clear and reiterated again that I believe - we can call it whatever word we wish - the detention of our citizens was illegal. These were peaceful citizens who posed no threat or risk to Israel - quite the opposite, in fact. They were going there on a humanitarian mission. I reiterate my view on that, and I have discussed that view with others, including my Spanish counterpart, and have articulated it to many, including Kaja Kallas, the EU high representative for foreign affairs. I will always give consideration to work we can do with others at the UN. We continue to look at that. Our priority at the moment is supporting the New York declaration.”
“As I have repeatedly stated and will restate this evening, I understand that the peaceful efforts of all those on board reflect an absolutely understandable human desire by many people around the world to urgently address the humanitarian needs of the people of Gaza. I am certainly happy in due course to meet people. I welcome that opportunity and I would perhaps suggest as a first step that my officials could meet with participants as well if that happens in a speedier manner. I will link with the Deputy's office in that regard. In terms of the situation in Gaza and the West Bank, I can assure the Deputy that this was at the centre of discussions at the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg yesterday. We welcome the fragile ceasefire and the hostage release deal.”