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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“He is coming over to me. I thank the Deputy for that but, obviously, the process through which the Government will go is examining the allegations. The Department of Transport is examining them. I agree that any breaches of Irish law must of course have a consequence. Irish law matters. I am very clear on that, as is the Taoiseach and the Minister for Transport. If there have been breaches of Irish sovereign law, decisions will need to be taken on the next steps based on clear and robust evidence.”
“This being dictated from international covenants and agreements of the 1940s does not reflect the reality today. I also think we need to have better clarity and understanding around munitions and parts, and absolute clarity as to what needs to be declared, because the law of this country is clear and robust in terms of Irish sovereign airspace, but then there are also the practicalities in terms of the implementation. Work is ongoing in the Department of Transport. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, confirmed that to me again as recently as this morning, in terms of what more measures Ireland needs to take with regard to our own law or what more measures Ireland needs to seek to take internationally.”
“The laws are very clear with regard to the Air Navigation (Carriage of Munitions of War, Weapons and Dangerous Goods) Orders of 1973 and 1989, that expressly prohibits civil aircraft from carrying munitions of war in Irish sovereign territory without being granted an exemption to do so by the Minister for Transport. I have also made the point that it is one thing about what people wish to inspect when it is on the ground but, when a plane is at 30,000 ft or 35,000 ft in the air, I would be very interested in hearing from the Deputy his practical and implementable solutions in terms of what more we can do. I do not say that, by the way, in any flippant way, because, to be very clear, I think we need to do more on this and that we need to see change internationally regarding this.”
“I thank Deputy Murphy for shouting me down again. I know his party is having difficulty this week as they will not take questions from some journalists if they do not like the questions. When he comes to the House, he asks me a question and will not allow me to answer it. He does not take questions from some and does not accept answers from others. Do not shout me down, please, on an important issue. With regard to this situation, I have made it very clear what Irish law states. As a Government Minister and a leader in Government, we obviously rely on the laws of our land.”
“I find it somewhat ironic that the Deputy who raises this issue is the same Deputy who would oppose any increase in defence spending to increase the capabilities of Óglaigh na hÉireann in terms of monitoring what happens in our skies and below our seas, because that is exactly what we need to do. The Deputy can shake his head if he wants-----”
“Ireland has already outlined even more steps that this country intends to take, both domestically and internationally, with regard to supporting the people of Palestine, but more profoundly, in terms of supporting international law and human rights. We continue to do that and will continue to do that at every opportunity. Deputy Murphy also said I said something earlier as though I said it for the first time. I also said it on Friday night in the interview to which he referred, that we do need to have a better understanding and knowledge as to what happens above our skies and indeed below our seas.”
“I think this is probably the only Parliament in the world where Members of the Parliament stand up and suggest that the Irish Government's position is anything other than supportive of the people of Palestine. It is usually quite the opposite, in fact. Any of us who attend international meetings and forums will know that Ireland is usually seen as almost an outlier - worryingly, perhaps - in terms of our level of support for international law, for human rights, for the people of Palestine, for a two-state solution and in calling out, as our Taoiseach did, the war crimes being committed by Israel. Coming to this Chamber, I get a completely different representation. Ireland is not standing idly by. Deputy Murphy quoted my words, I think, of this Tuesday. Ireland is not standing idly by.”
“Regarding the issue of Irish airspace, I did honestly say that it is hard to have the level of knowledge that I think we all need to have in terms of what happens in our skies. I do not just mean in our skies, but more internationally. I did say that we will have to look and consider whether we need to change domestic legislation and whether we need to work at an international level in terms of the legislation and covenants, many of which date back to the 1940s, that govern this as well. We have clear laws regarding what can and cannot go through Irish sovereign territory and the requirement to seek an exemption from the Minister for Transport, and that, of course, is the point of reference I was making.”
“It is not a matter of reneging on anything. I do not mind saying in this House, and I would be very happy to engage and share this more fully, but the legal advice available to me is that there is a narrow pathway - and it is a narrow pathway - under the ICJ advisory opinion for member states to seek to move ahead unilaterally, for want of a better phrase. We have not yet been able to identify the narrow pathway on services. That is the truth. It is not a policy position; it is a legal position. However, as I said to Senator Black, who has a different legal position, is that we are happy to engage on this. There is not a policy difference or policy objective differences; there truthfully is not. However, there is a need to make sure any Bill can withstand the inevitable challenge that this will face. I am happy to work through this.”
“If the EU refuses to act as a collective on this, why do a number of member states not do what we are proposing to do here in Ireland?”
“At that meeting I committed to going to the Government this month to seek a decision to move forward on that. We will have a longer time to discuss the contents of what is in that legislation but I will have to be honest in only being able to put something in the legislation that will stand up to legal scrutiny and that is in compliance with the laws by which we have to operate. There is a benefit of publishing a Government Bill and going to an Oireachtas committee. I will not speak for the Senator but I think she saw the benefit in this too, which is the opportunity to actually tease this out and to bring in people and hear different perspectives, to get the best legislation possible. I hope that in Ireland bringing forward legislation it might encourage and spur other countries to say, "We could do that too".”
“In the hours ahead I intend to speak to counterparts to see if more countries will come on board and echo Ireland's call. The human rights clauses in trade agreements or association agreements are not there for padding. They are not there to make the agreement longer. They are not discretionary extras and they have to count for something. We are all pretty furious that they do not seem to count for something at the moment. We will continue to work at that. Let me be clear that we are going to take forward legislation on the occupied Palestinian territories. The programme for Government is clear on that. We intend to honour that. I had a very good meeting with Senator Frances Black yesterday. She is a very good person and her motive here is to try to do some good.”
“Action is being taken on that but Israel is not listening. Nothing that has happened to date has changed the situation here in terms of Israel actually showing restraint, or issuing statements calling for restraint, when there is a government in Israel that plans doing the exact opposite. What we are doing here at a national level is continuing to work at EU level. That makes sense. I said this to Senator Black yesterday. If this is about having impact and applying maximum pressure to help bring about a ceasefire, a cessation of violence and a two-state solution, the EU living up to its obligations under the human rights clauses of the association agreement is what has to happen. I was interested yesterday to see the Netherlands join Ireland's and Spain's call for this to happen.”
“I am not dragging my feet. Regardless of our political persuasion or whichever party we are in, or whether the people watching from home support Government parties, Opposition parties or neither, people in this country are sickened, appalled and disgusted by what we are seeing in what Israel has done in Gaza and what the Israeli Government, as the Deputy rightly said, is very openly and blatantly proposing to do in relation to Gaza. That does require all of us to do more and I include Ireland in that. I do not share the Deputy's view of what Europe has done to date. The European Union, of which Ireland is a part, has provided very significant financial assistance to UNRWA on a multi-annual basis, only agreed a couple of weeks ago at the first EU-Palestinian high level dialogue, to help support the Palestinian Authority.”
“In fairness, it is outlined in the progress report published by the Minister yesterday in terms of what the economic growth looks like, what job creation looks like and the different levels we would be at in that scenario compared to a scenario where there is a free flow of trade. We will keep working at this calmly and, as the Deputy said, with cool heads.”
“We are saying that here is a list of measures we do not want to take, that we want to have them prepared in case, and that we want to consult and we want to engage. There will be consultation until at least 10 June so nothing will change in the here and now. Yes, I did tell my parliamentary party what I tell the Irish people and what I did say during the general election, and what the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, says regularly too, that if we get to a situation where President Trump's agenda of high tariffs and protectionism takes hold and there is no improvement, that will have an effect on our economy. We do have to navigate that challenge. The Deputy asked what this effect looks like.”
“If we get to a place where countermeasures have to be introduced by the European Union, this will not be good for the European Union and it will not be good for the US. It will not be good for the economies in Europe or in the US because it is almost impossible to publish a list that does not have an impact in every single member state. The list will be broad, and it will include industrial products and a whole variety of issues. I expect it to run to more than 200 pages. I have not formally seen it and it will have to be assessed. It will take a period of time to assess it but there is the time. Unlike President Trump, we are not saying "Here is the list and it comes in tomorrow or in 30 days".”
“The fourth measure we have to take at European level is to continue to watch for what is often called "dumping", which is the idea that lots of extra goods may come to our markets from other parts of the world because of actions taken by the US. I expect the EU to also monitor this very closely. Those are the four areas where we are likely to see monitoring. I would like to offer Opposition parties a further briefing with the Government next week. We should continue to work hand in glove on this. I will also attend the meeting of EU trade Ministers in Brussels next Thursday.”
“It will go out for public consultation until at least 10 June. Even when that public consultation closes, the Commission will need to do more work before it even reaches a decision-making mechanism within the European Union. We need to apply the "cool heads" the Deputy mentioned to our response to the countermeasures. Ultimately, I want to see the countermeasures list ripped up and never coming into effect because we have reached an agreement. The third measure the European Union should consider and that I expect it will is to take a dispute to the WTO. The United States is not in compliance with World Trade Organization rules. Rules matter and membership of the WTO matters.”
“We must reach out with proposals, engage in good faith, try to get an agreement and use the 90-day pause. The second measure is countermeasures. I take the point that tariffs are not good for anyone. I get that. That is absolutely true. However, from a negotiating point of view, we do have to negotiate from a position of strength. Irish people get that. We cannot go into talks with our hands swinging and asking nicely for a deal. We have to say that we want a deal and want zero tariffs for zero tariffs but that the European Union is a market of 460 million people and will look at responding in other areas if we have to. It is important to say a couple of things about the list of countermeasures that will be published today. The first is that it is going to be a very long list. The second is that none of this will come in anytime soon.”
“A number of things are going to happen this afternoon. The EU's response or next steps must be seen through the prism of four measures. The first and most important to note is that the European Union, of which Ireland is a proud member, wants to negotiate. We do not want to be in a tit-for-tat tariff war. I agree with the Deputy on that. Tariffs are bad for everybody. There are no winners in a tariff war. I therefore believe the EU is right to have intensified its engagement with the United States in recent days and in the proposals we are making to find a way forward. The Deputy's question is a fair one: do we have interlocutors who are willing to do a deal? We have to keep working on that. We have to support the work of Maroš Šefčovič, the EU's Commissioner for trade, who is doing a very good job in this area. That is step one.”
“In all my engagements with the British Government, including when I met the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 11 days ago, and in all my engagements at the European level, I am very clear that the unique position of this island and the north of this island needs to be factored into all discussions at EU level and with the US and in our ongoing discussions with the British Government. Of course, we can all point to the Windsor Framework and different mechanisms but to do so is to miss the point. Tariffs are not a good idea, full stop. The trade that happens across this island, between these islands and between this island and the US matters. I am absolutely committed to working in good faith with the Minister, Dr. Archibald, and with the Northern Ireland Executive. I know the Minister is also committed to doing so.”
“I will begin where the Deputy began on trade, tariffs and the all-island all-Ireland economy. This morning, I spoke to the Deputy's colleague, my counterpart, the Minister for the Economy in the Northern Ireland Executive, Dr. Caoimhe Archibald. I thank her for ongoing engagement with me and for the way she is going about her business. We have agreed to meet by way of video conference either tomorrow or Monday once we have clarity on what is in the UK-US agreement. I use that word loosely because, quite frankly, we do not know at this stage if it is a full agreement. I have heard speculation that it is the heads of an agreement or a framework. It is important that we see what comes from that later today.”
“If anyone has any concerns on that, there are mechanisms by which they can be raised. However, protest is absolutely lawful in this country, that is, peaceful protest. It takes place and is an important part of a healthy democracy.”
“I believe very much in protest in a democracy, that is, protest obviously within the law. I also believe our gardaí generally do a very good job in this country. I am not familiar with the protest the Deputy mentioned. I truthfully am not.”
“I think the Government’s position in relation to Palestine is very clear and so does the President of the Palestinian Authority, its Prime Minister and its ambassador to Ireland. Ireland stands in solidarity with the need for a two-state solution. Ireland believes in two states and we recognise the State of Palestine to keep that hope alive. We have taken a number of practical measures, that have not just been words, including, as Deputy Gogarty referenced, our submission to international courts like the ICJ, providing additional funding to UNWRA to provide direct humanitarian assistance to people in Gaza, and working at EU level on the EU Palestinian dialogue.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am aware of the commitment that was made and the anxiety people are feeling. I do not have the information in front of me today but I will ask the Minister directly to revert to the Deputy. I will outline that the Deputy has raised the issue and the urgency of trying to resolve this matter for her constituents.”
“My understanding is that, in parallel to this recruitment, the HSE is trying to carry out a number of short-term temporary solutions, including integrating services, reorganising work, engaging with the graduate nurse scheme to fill vacant positions and the redeployment of staff to make sure that areas retain a level of service while new staff are coming on stream. I will ask the Minister for Health to revert to the Deputy directly on the 27 new posts are they are rolled out.”
“I know this is a serious issue and has been in Dublin Mid-West, where it seems to arise particularly as an issue. There are approximately 1,803 public health nurses employed in the HSE and we have provided funding for another 26.7 - let us call that 27 - whole-time-equivalent posts in this year’s budget. My note here tells me that the HSE is making good progress recruiting those people, has recently been given commissioning letters to fill the new development public health nursing posts and recruitment has now commenced.”
“From a policy point of view, we have taken a number of steps to try to help people with the cost of public transport, including the young adult card and the 90-minute fare. We have had money to extend that. We have seen a number of initiatives that have helped to reduce the cost and I would not like to see anything that counters that, so I am happy to continue to engage with the NTA on this, as I know the Deputy is. I will keep in touch with her on it.”
“As the Deputy can imagine, since both of us live in the area, I share her frustration on this. We know very well that as the review was carried out, there were some people, including in our constituency, who saw significant fare reductions, but there have also been what I regard as anomalies in that some towns have seen significant fare increases. In this regard, the Deputy rightly referred to Greystones and Kilcoole, two towns we know well. The NTA and others will tell us that the changes are broadly revenue neutral, which is true, and that we are moving to a distance-based zonal system. The NTA believes the latter is fairer and easier for passengers to understand. However, this needs to be kept under review.”
“We are approaching the 28th anniversary of his murder and, in the absence of an effective investigation into his death, which the UK Government has not yet agreed to, the passage of time makes it absolutely and increasingly pressing. Bridie Brown has shown enormous strength in pursuing this case through every available channel and I intend to continue to pursue it also.”
“Specifically on the Sean Brown case, I have read the statement of the Secretary of State on Sean Brown. I understand the Secretary of State has filed applications with the Court of Appeal seeking an extension of time for decision-making and seeking protective leave to appeal to the Supreme Court in the case brought by Bridie Brown, whose husband was murdered by loyalist paramilitaries in 1997. However, as I said to the Secretary of State in private last week – I also said it publicly at our joint press conference – the Brown family has waited far too long to find out the truth about what happened to Sean Brown.”
“On the legacy Act, the Irish Government took a case not because of pressure from any political party but because it believes in international law, human rights and the Good Friday Agreement. We took one in a very difficult situation. We did not want to find ourselves in that position, but I can report to the House very good and constructive engagement between me and the Secretary of State on behalf of our respective Governments to try to get to a better place on legacy. The Irish Government’s clear landing zone here is that if there is to be an agreed position between the British and Irish Governments, it will have to be human rights compliant and try to bring victims and their families with us. I believe the next few weeks will show it is possible.”
“I thank Deputy Ó Murchú. I cannot really win on the GAA question because by pleasing him I could offend the Minister, Deputy McEntee. There is no winning on this other than to wish everybody well. On the serious issue the Deputy raised – it is not that the GAA is not serious – on Liberty IT, the challenge there and, no doubt, the real worry and stress for workers, I too will speak directly to the relevant Minister, Deputy Burke, and ask that he keep in touch with the Deputy on it. More broadly, on the issue of artificial intelligence, ensuring we provide good ethical frameworks and clarity around artificial intelligence is going to become increasingly important for workers in both the public and private sectors in the time ahead.”
“I thank Deputy Ó Muirí for raising this issue. We do need to consider the timeline for implementation. We find ourselves in a very new trade environment and we always say we have to try to control what we can control. This is certainly something that at least merits consideration when we hear the concerns expressed. I believe this falls into that category. I am not in a position to say today what exact decision the Government will make but I can say that the timeline around implementation is certainly under consideration.”
“I thank Deputy Cahill very much. I agree with him that Skellig Michael is such a beautiful treasure and an amazing place. I share his view that it is so important to support the maintenance and protection of what is a UNESCO heritage site and also to examine how we can assist tourists in getting there in an appropriate way. Therefore, I will certainly speak to the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Boxer Moran, on the issue the Deputy has raised regarding licensing and ask that he revert to him directly.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of pedestrian safety and the need for the Government to make sure we adequately fund and provide support to local authorities for that purpose. In recent years, there have been a number of initiatives, including the walking to school programme, where there has been a real effort to make walking routes safer, particularly for schoolchildren and others. I certainly will take up this matter directly with the Minister for Transport and ask that he gets back to the Deputy to see what can be done.”
“I fully agree with the Deputy's description of what needs to happen. The word "partnership" is really important. We have such good examples of childcare providers across the country. We also have significant gaps in provision. I meet people who are frustrated when they hear we have reduced the cost of childcare. They say, "That is great but I cannot get a place". Cost and access, along, of course, with quality, really do matter. There are 21 commitments in the programme for Government in regard to childcare. The Minister, Deputy Foley, is looking at how we can bring forward the action plan. This is an absolute priority for the Government and it will require public intervention, that is, State intervention, starting with areas where there are particular gaps in service provision.”
“I am due to meet the sponsor of the original Bill next week. I am eager to get to work with her on this but I am also every eager that any legislation we pass can genuinely be meaningful and lawful. I am happy to come back to the Deputy in the next week regarding my plans.”
“The Government and I share the Deputy's view on what we are seeing in terms of the stopping of aid getting into Gaza. It is despicable and it is causing untold harm, to put it very mildly. One cannot find the words to capture how horrific the situation is in Gaza. I thank the Deputy for his comments regarding the Government's intervention on behalf of Ireland at the ICJ. I assure him that our work continues. We recently had an EU-Palestinian high-level dialogue, which was the first engagement between the EU and Palestine. I represented Ireland at that engagement. We have provided very significant funding at an EU level to support the Palestinian Authority and UNRWA. Regarding the occupied territories Bill, I remain absolutely committed to acting on the commitment in the programme for Government to bring forward legislation.”
“The Minister, Deputy Calleary, tells me he intends to engage directly with the Minister, Deputy Browne, on planning guidelines specifically for the Gaeltacht. I will ask the Minister to engage directly with the Deputy in regard to her feedback on the issue.”
“Nothing like that has happened at all. The Government has established a housing activation office. We would be delighted to constructively engage with the Deputy and all of the Opposition in terms of how this office can work effectively. We have all seen the need to break down silos, second people and bring in expertise. We should not be referring to people outside the House by their surnames and calling people tsars and all that sort of stuff. There are no such plans to create any tsar. There are plans to create offices, which will have to be staffed and populated. The Government will decide in due course, as we tease this through, how best to do that. All of this has to be about building more homes. The success or otherwise of the next five years will be in how we make progress in building more homes for more people in our country.”
“As the Taoiseach said in this House yesterday and as I will say today, there has been no decision made with regard to the staffing of that office yet. We will continue to engage on these matters, and that will be the next decision to be made.”
“I thank Deputy Sheehan and assure him the Government is getting along very well, and Ministers are active and busy in a whole range of areas. If there have not been sightings of different Ministers together - I will have to inquire into that - it is probably because they have been too busy doing their jobs. We are at one with regard to the need to establish a housing activation office. I very much welcome the plans brought forward by the Minister, Deputy Browne, this week to get that up and running. It derives from the Housing Commission and many proposals put forward by opposition TDs in advance of the last election to break down silos, second expertise and bring in utility companies. That is the decision, and the only decision the Government has made.”
“I thank Deputy Doherty. He is right with regard to making sure people can be assisted with the cost of living but I would point out this Government has taken a number of measures, and that wages in Ireland are now growing ahead of inflation. We have taken action with regard to reducing childcare costs. That is just one example. We have made school books free and provided free school meals, measures that really help many families right across our country. People in Ireland know the long-established policy in regard to carbon tax and they now know where that carbon tax money goes. It goes into things like the fuel allowance, helping people on a social welfare, retrofitting and agri-environmental schemes for our farmers. We have been very clear with respect to the policy direction on that.”
“The Deputy was certainly very clear in his question, in case I did not understand it the first time. I know the Minister intends to visit and she will be happy to work with the Deputy and colleagues in Dublin Bay North with regard to arranging that. I certainly want to assure all the students and staff there, who I know have been waiting a long time as I have heard this raised in the Dáil for a quite a time, that this is a project that is genuinely getting a lot of attention. The planning permission is now in place. They are working through this with the design team to try to get this project moving forward. I think the Minister has made it clear that she does look forward to visiting.”
“I hope that can bring us to a positive place with regard to the budgetary trajectory for Foras na Gaeilge into the future. In the meantime, we have made that interim or one-off payment of €630,000, which I know has been well received, is much needed, and will have a very positive impact on both.”
“This is good news because it is going to enable that agency to reverse cuts it unfortunately and regrettably had to announce earlier this year. It did not want to find itself in that position. I am also pleased to say the Government will provide one-off funding of €40,000 to support the Ulster-Scots Agency community programme. Officials in both the sponsoring departments and both finance departments North and South have been working closely with colleagues in both agencies, and are trying to look at what the longer term looks like. Discussions have begun regarding a new corporate plan for 2026 to 2028, and this will involve a full review of things like governance, procedural matters and how the treatment of pensions is dealt with.”
“I will certainly pass on the Deputy's request - indeed, the Minister heard it herself - with regard to that school. I know the Minister, Deputy McEntee's officials will be in contact with the school authority as soon as the design team has completed the tender documents. On the other question about Foras na Gaeilge, the Minister, Deputy Calleary, is sitting near me and he chaired a meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council language body sector on 10 April. At that, the specific business plans for Foras na Gaeilge and the Ulster-Scots Agency were agreed. I am pleased to say that the agreed funding for 2025 does include a once-off payment of €630,000 from the Irish Government to Foras na Gaeilge in respect of historic pension costs.”