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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“This is in the national security space. Perhaps a benefit, if there is one, of being one of the last in Europe to get this right is that we have access to the best information about what modern, fit-for-purpose radar systems look like. The Government has taken a decision to work government to government on procurement. That will involve the delivery of modern fit-for-purpose capabilities in this space.”
“I fully agree with the Deputy. I like, and will cog, the phrase "positive neutrality". That is what we should be talking about. I certainly have no plans to change Ireland's military neutrality. There is an overwhelming consensus in this House and significant support across the country for military neutrality. We should be proud of our neutrality. It is not just a cornerstone of our Defence Forces policy but also our foreign affairs policy. We need that vision of positive neutrality. There are many neutral nations that spend a lot more on their own security. In fact, one could argue that being neutral places a greater obligation on a country in light of its need to invest in its own national security because it is not a part of a military alliance and should not be able to rely on others to come to its aid.”
“There are three elements to the military radar programme: land-based long range primary radar; ground-based air defence systems, to include a counter-unmanned aerial systems capability; and maritime or ship-borne radar. When fully addressed, 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 but will be fully rolled out by 2028. That roll-out will start in 2026, which is sometimes missed in the discourse. In each month and quarter from 2026 onwards, we will start to see progress and the roll-out will be fully completed by the end of 2028.”
“The commission recommended the development of a primary radar capability to ensure that Ireland can maintain a complete recognised air picture, and that this should be a top priority. The commission also advised that in the absence of a complete recognised air picture, there are vulnerabilities which need to be addressed for various reasons, including the protection of our national sovereignty in the air for the purposes of civil aviation safety and the maintenance of co-operative relations with neighbouring states, which are also impacted by this capability gap. On foot of this, a project team comprising senior civil and military personnel was established to progress a military radar programme. This programme of work is ongoing and I am pleased that good progress has been made.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. When we look back at the Commission on the Defence Forces and everything else, radar and sonar are two key areas on which we must move. The Deputy and I can largely agree on that point. These are no-brainers. We must have a better understanding of what happens in our skies and seas. We need that capability. It is a key priority for me to ensure that the operational capacity of the Defence Forces is maintained and developed in line with the decision the Government has already made to move to level of ambition 2, as defined by the Commission on the Defence Forces, by 2028. The commitment in the programme for Government states that when we have arrived at LAO 2, we will move to level of ambition 3.”
“We often talk about issues at a macro level. Within many organisations in the public service, and the Defence Forces is no different, there are particular pinch points in respect of a group of people or skills. There does not necessarily need to be a contagion effect so we see that spreading across all elements of the public service. How we tease through these issues is complex but important.”
“Let me be clear that I do not rule out what he has suggested. I am not in any way naive. While I can point to figures that show marginal improvements in the numbers of Defence Forces personnel, I am also aware we are nowhere near the established numbers we need. That marginal improvement provides a degree of false comfort in some of the specialties where we need to continue to recruit and, crucially, as the Deputy said, retain in the Defence Forces. As he referenced, there is the new service commitment scheme. I am always open to exploring options to continue to drive recruitment and, particularly, retention. I am open to receiving and considering any proposed initiatives and carefully assessing them against operational requirements. They need to work within broader pay policy. There is a broader issue about pay policy.”
“The extension of private secondary healthcare, restructuring of the patrol duty allowance and the extensive training and education opportunities that now exist in the Defence Forces, which are possibly unrivalled in many parts of the public service, are also helpful. Increasing the mandatory retirement age to 62 is a retention measure and increasing the maximum recruitment age to 39 also brings people in. The Deputy asked if I will consider the introduction of service commitment schemes to retain key specialist functions. My answer is that we already have one and I keep under review whether we need to do more in respect of particular specialties that we want to retain in the Defence Forces.”
“I was not talking about fighter jets but was asked about a question about them at an Army barracks. I said I want to get to level of ambition, LAO, 3, which talks about that degree of air cover. We need a better understanding of what happens and the capabilities in our skies and seas. The Deputy is right that the key to being able to activate any of this is having the personnel to operate any such infrastructural capabilities, and we can debate the merits or demerits of each of those. I am not saying this is what he is saying, but it is not fair to completely decouple pay from considerations of retention. If pay is very low, personnel are not going to be retained in an organisation. The changes in pay are helpful.”
“Other developments include the extension of private secondary health care to enlisted ranks, the restructuring of the patrol duty allowance paid to the Naval Service to encourage seagoing activities, a technical pay 2-6 review completed and implemented that is targeted at specialist and technical personnel and developments relating to the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997.”
“In the past five years a cadet's pay on commissioning has increased by €14,457, or by 49%. Furthermore, after two years, they are promoted to lieutenant and their pay rises to €50,677. I say this because I am not sure whether these changes are fully known. There might be people watching and following this debate and we want to make it clear to them that pay issues in the Defence Forces have changed in recent years. Of course, there is more to do and I will come back on this in a moment.”
“Our focus has been on ensuring that existing recruitment and retention frameworks are fully optimised and are responsive to the needs of the Defence Forces while at the same time introducing a number of new initiatives in this space. While there is always more to do, there has been significant progress on a range of fronts, including pay, in recent years. Recruit pay on completion of training, which takes approximately 24 weeks, starts at €41,465 in year one rising to €42,875 in year two and €44,176 in year three. For officers, as of 1 March 2025, a school leaver cadet on commissioning is now paid €45,341, which is a second lieutenant position. In 2019, a school leaver cadet on commissioning was paid €30,884 so there has been quite a significant increase.”
“I agree with the Deputy about recruitment and retention. We can have all the investment plans, and we need to in the Defence Forces, but the men and women in the Defence Forces constitute its most important resource. Given that this is a country with full employment and very skilled individuals work in the Defence Forces, how we recruit in the first instance and then crucially retain them is a very fair question raised by the Deputy. My Department has one service commitment scheme in place in respect of Air Corps pilots and these matters are always kept under review. Recruitment and retention of Defence Forces personnel is, and must be, a Government priority. There are challenges with recruitment and retention in the Defence Forces with particular challenges relating to specialist personnel.”
“I will ask the Minister for Justice to reflect on the particular comments Deputy Ó Murchú made today in relation to Louth, the membership and that interim gap and to respond to him directly.”
“I thank Deputy Ó Murchú. While I am not aware of the specific details, I join the Deputy in sending my best wishes to that member of An Garda Síochána. As the Deputy says, all of these incidents are harsh and real reminders of the dangers that gardaí face when they put themselves in harm's way to keep the rest of us safe. I am very grateful to all members of An Garda Síochána for their service. I am a big fan of the community safety partnerships for the reasons the Deputy has outlined. They bring everybody together and recognise that while gardaí have a role to play, so too do the councils, the HSE and lots of other parts of society. They involve pulling everyone together to draw up a plan to make communities safer and to have that buy-in is important.”
“We need to be better able to respond more quickly to the resources that a community often needs. If a community sees a significant increase in the population, be that through IPAS or anything else, these are often legitimate questions that people are raising and we need to do better at providing more speedy answers. That is our work-----”
“That is, of course, not our policy. I thank the Deputy for raising issues in relation to Belmullet, the Belmont Hotel in Knock and St. Mary's school in Ballina. I will ask the Minister for Justice and the Minister of State for migration to come back to the Deputy on that. Broadly, on the issue of communications around migration, we need to do more. We recently discussed this very issue at a Cabinet committee meeting on justice and migration. We have good people doing their best to communicate and to keep communities up to date, but we probably do not have enough of them. We need to support those people who are doing very good work in trying to go out and engage with communities. We also need to listen to what communities are saying. Often communities just want to know what the impact will be on schools and health services.”
“Second, we want to see hotels used for what they are meant to be used for, which is tourism. In the emergency situation, of course, that was not always possible but we have a very clear commitment to try to stay away from the use of the only hotel in a town. There can be cases where a hotel has been shut for many years but I am talking about active hotels. Certainly, that is the policy objective of the Government.”
“I thank Deputy Guirke. I will ask the Minister for housing and the Minister of State with responsibility for planning to give consideration to the point he makes about the role of section 5 and the appropriate use of it in the context of what he has outlined. I would like to make two points on IPAS and migration accommodation. First, there has been too much discussion only on accommodation. We also have to discuss a rules-based system and making sure that if people have a right to be here, they are integrated, get on with their lives, get a job and make a good contribution to our country. If they do not have a right to be here, we must ensure they are asked to leave and to do so much more quickly. If they do not leave, we must ensure that they do leave.”
“He is almost as eager as Deputy Burke. I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, to keep in very close contact with the Deputy. It is a statement of fact that all the necessary paperwork is now with the Department of public expenditure and we need to move this forward.”
“I thank Deputy Burke for raising this issue and for vocalising very strongly the absolute frustration of his constituents in and around Blackpool. I know this has been going on for an extraordinarily long period of time. The Deputy is of course correct that on 17 April the OPW submitted the final supplementary information and those updated environmental surveys he referenced to the Minister for public expenditure, infrastructure, public service reform and digitalisation as part of the statutory confirmation that needs to take place to progress the scheme to construction. I spoke with the Minister responsible for the Office of Public Works this morning in this regard. I was going to say he is as eager as Deputy Burke, although I am not sure anyone could be as eager as Deputy Burke, to move this forward and do so quickly.”
“We are determined to get that right and make sure there is bang for buck in terms of that investment leading to extra houses. I will keep the Deputy updated as that progresses.”
“I thank Deputy McCormack. I offer my sincere sympathy to him and his family on their loss. The Deputy is so right to highlight the importance of the electricity grid, both from an energy security and from a housing point of view. We quite rightly talk in this House about the emergency that is housing - there is no doubt about that - but the key enabler to moving forward on that emergency is water, wastewater and energy supply. That is why the Government is very minded to invest significantly more funding through Uisce Éireann and into the grid through EirGrid and others. We will be looking at this in the context of the Apple escrow account and that once-off opportunity to make that investment. We will consider this in due course in the months ahead.”
“I thank Deputy Healy very much for raising the matter. When a court sitting changes in a town, it is not just the convenience for people in terms of accessing the court; it is the general footfall that can come into a town associated with a court sitting. I see that in my county of Wicklow as well. I will ask the Minister for Justice to get an update and to discuss this matter with the Courts Service with regard to Carrick-on-Suir and Cashel and why the sittings are moving to Clonmel and to revert to the Deputy with an update.”
“There are different legal opinions, let us be truthful, around goods and services and what can and cannot be done, and we are happy to thrash that out. That is what this Parliament is meant to do. It is not a policy difference from my perspective around covering services. It truthfully is not. I get the point about covering services. However, the legal advice available to me is that services are legally a different issue from goods. Let us thrash that detail out, however. I am happy to work through that with the Deputy.”
“I thank Deputy O'Gorman. I acknowledge that he put a real emphasis on this in the previous Government. It is not simply about strong words, although I do think words matter, and I do think speaking out and speaking up matters. Quite frankly, there are a lot of countries not speaking out and speaking up the way Ireland is. Find me another European country that has referred to the actions of Israel in terms of war crimes. We going to continue - and it is not a case of letter writing - to put pressure to build a coalition because the European Union has to live up to its obligations too. We are not just going to do that, however. We are going to pass a Bill with regard to the occupied Palestinian territories. It is going to have to be legally robust. I had a good dialogue with Senator Black in that regard.”
“We will make decisions as a Government shortly in terms of how to move forward on that investment. We are also bringing Irish Water to the table in the new housing activation office, which we are going to get right, because water infrastructure is a key enabler of housing to keep young people in constituencies like the Deputy's and in our country too.”
“First, let me reject entirely the assertion with regard to the Uisce Éireann funding model. The full trawl of documents, which I have no doubt committees and others will look at, will show that the €1 billion was additional funding. Indeed, those of us who were in government at the time very much remember that. Of course, it is true to say that and also to say the next thing, which is the broader point the Deputy is getting at, that it is not going to be enough. There are towns and villages right across Ireland, rural and urban, that desperately need the water infrastructure and wastewater infrastructure as well. We have been very clear as a Government that we intend to allocate a lot more to Uisce Éireann. We have been very clear that the Apple fund, for want of a better phrase, does provide a once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest.”
“On foot of what the Deputy has raised, I will ask the Minister, Deputy Burke, and the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, to give consideration, as I know they are, to the membership of that, and to make sure we get that balance right.”
“I remember being in Melo and meeting the young woman running it, and indeed her mother. As is often the case in family businesses, everyone was pitching in. I remember them talking honestly to us about the costs of small business. We have made a number of decisions recently as a Government, not all of which are popular, to try to recognise that when we come up with a good idea in here, it is not us who have to pay for it. It is often the small business, and we have to get that balance right. We are going to set up a cost-of-business advisory forum. This will look at all business taxes and costs and ensure that businesses are properly consulted before new legislation or policies that impact small businesses are introduced.”
“Deputy Currie makes an important point. How do we make sure we are hearing all of the voices we need to hear when making policy decisions? How do we be as inclusive as possible? I remember well that visit to Castleknock and being in a relatively new coffee shop with the Deputy for a lovely cup of coffee. What was it called?”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I undertake to speak with the Minister for Justice and the Minister for further and higher education about this. From my memory, I know changes were made in the regulation and oversight of that sector. I also agree that students who come here are making an important contribution with the part-time work they carry out. I know many businesses in rural and urban Ireland are reliant on those workers. I will raise the issue the Deputy has brought to our attention directly with the Ministers, Deputies O'Callaghan and Lawless, and ask them to reply to him.”
“I thank the Deputy for bringing that issue to my attention. I will certainly speak with the Minister for housing and ask that he reply to the Deputy directly. As the Deputy has rightly said, the Government took a funding decision with regard to this. We are living through a housing emergency. We need to see these projects move, so I will ask the Minister to come back to him.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of the cost of insurance and the impact that can have on consumers, businesses and so many parts of our lives, our economy and our society. I know that the Government is working its way through that issue at the moment relating to the PIAB guidelines. The Deputy has made a sensible suggestion to look at the length of time for the reviews, which I think is probably too frequent. I know that the Government, led in this area by the Minister for Justice, will give consideration to whether there is a need to amend legislation as well. We are also re-establishing the Cabinet committee on insurance reform, which I will share with all relevant Ministers. We will certainly take forward the Deputy's suggestions through that forum as well.”
“I thank Deputy Crowe for highlighting this issue. I take the issue of animal welfare seriously. Far too often in our country, we hear of the mistreatment of horses. We often see images on social media and elsewhere that can be extremely distressing. I think the Deputy's point is right. I have been asking about this for a while. The legislation on this is pretty robust, but perhaps there are issues relating to enforcement and how we can get better at enforcing it. In light of the Deputy raising this issue, I will ask the Minister for agriculture to consider the points he has made and come back to him directly.”
“I join the Deputy in urging a speedy resolution to ensure our older and most vulnerable citizens can have access to services located close to their loved ones in the Bantry area. I will ask the Minister for Health to come back to the Deputy directly.”
“I thank Deputy Collins. I watched in admiration how he managed to bring a Longford school back to a Cork connection. It was nicely done and I join him in welcoming the students Deputy Carrigy has brought to the Dáil today. They are very welcome and I hope they enjoy their day. I thank Deputy Collins for his question and for raising this important issue. He and I know that HIQA is the statutory independent regulator. We all appreciate that and the role it has to play in ensuring nursing homes are safe and effective. It is important that they always work closely with nursing home providers and that any restrictive conditions attached to a nursing home are resolved between HIQA and the providers.”
“I know we do not agree on much, but I thought one of the things we could agree on was our concern around the activities of some who are loosely termed the "far right" who turn up and intimidate and wear balaclavas and face masks. They stood outside your house and my house shouting and roaring and causing significant concern to people in terms of their safety. This is a sensible initiative in respect of a garda being able to direct a person to remove clothing that is being worn to make themselves unidentifiable. It is certainly not about anything to do with the immunocompromised, whom of course we much support. I will ask the Minister to provide the Deputy with clarity regarding the intent of this legislation in writing.”
“The next point in time is the national development plan, which is due to be published in or around July, and that will allocate capital for the next number of years. I will ask the Minister for Transport to respond to the Deputy specifically on those questions.”
“I thank Deputy Rice very much. I agree with him in general that we must come up with systems to drive forward infrastructure projects in a more timely manner. This is why we have set up the new infrastructure division of the Department of public expenditure and reform. I think we all hear this issue raised in our constituencies. To the people of Cork regarding the decisions we are taking, I would say that the Crawford Gallery is an example of a project that had been knocking around for quite a while. We took a big decision in that regard recently that I think is important. I will get specific answers for the Deputy concerning the three questions he asked regarding the north-south line, the allocations and the timeline.”
“I welcome Ms Lavin and Ms Keyes and their students, Éabha, Josie, Cillian and Jacek. I am sure they could all teach us many things about debating. I first learned how to debate back in secondary school too. I was told to do all the things I never do now, like locking your knees, looking up, speaking calmly, beginning with a quote and all that. I hope they have had very good success and I thank them for being here today.”
“As the Deputy can imagine, this is an issue I am very alert to and aware of in a very practical sense. My hometown is one that has seen an adverse impact from this change. Admittedly, many other areas have seen fares decrease. I do not think it is good that we are seeing one town nearly being pitted against another as a result of this fare structure. We have taken several measures to reduce public transport fares that I am proud of. We did that together in the last Government. I would like to meet the NTA regarding this issue. Perhaps those of us from constituencies impacted could seek to meet the organisation together to seek a timeline on when it intends to carry out the consultation. While I am on my feet I join the Leas-Cheann Comhairle in welcoming the students and their teachers to the Dáil.”
“I thank Deputy Doherty very much. I note with interest the debate that took place in the Northern Ireland Assembly this week and the outcome of it. I will engage with my Government colleagues, including the Taoiseach, in relation to this matter. I am supportive of the principle. I think there is logic in it in terms of a Government timeline and the likes. I will need to discuss that with Government colleagues and revert to the Deputy.”
“Parents were delighted because you did not have to start having the conversation with the son or daughter about everybody else in the class having a smartphone. It provided cover and support for all parents to say, "No, in this town we do not do smartphones in primary schools." That is now being rolled out to many other things. Getting that same culture in terms of the age at which people use social media is an interesting step. The Deputy proposed some very interesting ideas, I am happy that the Minister with responsibility here has heard them, and let us continue to engage on this.”
“Deputy Gogarty is not doing this, but sometimes we can blame the European Union. The European Union has given us pretty decent legislative infrastructure here. It is now up to member states, including Ireland, to decide how we wish to utilise that. The era of self-regulation is over beyond my just saying it in the sense that there are now codes in place and there is now an ability to fine companies that do not comply with the codes. I am genuinely concerned about the age verification piece. Of course, we must empower and entrust parents. Parents raising their children is something we all agree with, but we also know as parents that you can support parents through your laws. In my hometown of Greystones we brought in a voluntary smartphone ban in primary schools.”
“We need to tackle that FOMO of "I must do it because somebody else of my age also has a smartphone or is on social media". Now, with the existence of Coimisiún na Meán, and with, as the Deputy said, the experiences from other countries, this is an area that we should act on. Very serious consideration should be given to the idea of having to be 16 before you are on social media and aligning that with the digital age of consent in Ireland, which is also 16. We should work constructively across parties, perhaps through the new committee structures and the likes that will exist in this House, to really scrutinise this, to learn from other jurisdictions and to use the resources we now have through the European legislative infrastructure to take steps that will support our children.”
“They have given themselves a bit of a lead-in period because they are working on how you practically implement some of the measures they would like to implement around age verification. What is very clear is that we have a digital age of consent in Ireland and it is 16 and, in my view, there are what amount to workarounds that have been found that mean that while we say there is a digital age of consent of 16, there are so many kids now on social media well before that. CyberSafeKids alarmingly reveals that 84% of under-12s have their own social media accounts or instant messaging accounts, despite the minimum age restriction being 13 on the most popular apps, and around 93% of eight-to-12-year-olds have their own smart device. This is a ticking timebomb. We need to get serious in terms of empowering and supporting parents.”
“Being a parent today is even more complex and challenging a job than it has been in the past. It always has been, no doubt, but that idea of your child having nearly a better knowledge of technology than you have and you running to try to keep up with them is a source of huge concern for parents right across the country. The Deputy is right that we need to look at what other countries are doing. My colleague, the Minister, Patrick O'Donovan, beside me has asked his officials to do exactly what the Deputy suggests, to look at what other countries like Australia are doing. Australia deserve great credit for the steps they are considering. I have been looking into this recently.”
“Deputy Gogarty is right in pretty much every word he said. This is an area that requires a lot more action and, as we have said before, and we mean it by our actions at both an EU and a domestic level, the era of self-regulation is over. We were talking about trade and tariffs a few moments ago; let us talk about another thing - values. Our values in this country and our values as Europeans matter too. Regulating social media companies - companies that can do good - is really important. Getting this right is really important, as is not being browbeaten by anybody in any part of the world in terms of having a regulatory structure in place that protects our democracies, protects our people, crucially, and, most importantly, protects our children and our vulnerable citizens. We are not where we need to be in this regard.”
“We also need to be clear - and this is the point I was trying to make - that if existing legislation does not provide for the implemention of a system of routine and random inspections but rather requires that there first be an appearance of intention or likelihood for a civil aircraft to depart from a point in the State in a manner that would contravene the legislation, for example, carrying munitions, it is a legitimate question for the Government. I will consider whether we need to amend our domestic legislation and whether more needs to happen internationally. I am very clear that any breach of Irish law cannot be consequence-free. I agree with the Deputy on that. The Department of Transport is carrying out a robust examination of all these matters and it would advise the Government on what next steps are required.”