Fine Gael leader Simon Harris has said that he should have taken the time to engage with a woman who raised issues in relation to disabilities with him in Co Cork last night.
Mr Harris said that he felt “really bad” about the encounter, which he said happened at the end of a long day.
The woman, who identified herself as a Section 39 worker, asked Mr Harris in Supervalu in Kanturk if she could ask him a question before saying that carers have, in her view, been “ignored”.
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When Mr Harris said, “no you weren’t”, she responded by saying “yes we were, the disability sector is a joke, you’ve done nothing for us, our people are suffering”.
After a brief exchange, the Fine Gael leader shook the woman’s hand and began walking away, before coming back.
The woman said, “keep shaking your hands, pretend you’re a good man, you’re not a good man”, at which point Mr Harris said: “Okay well if you don’t think I’m a good man…” and walked away to meet other people on the canvass.
Speaking on an Instagram Live this morning he said he “should have taken the time to engage” with the woman saying “there’s no excuse on my part in relation to that”.
“I was in Kanturk last night at the end of a very long day and I was talking to a woman who works in a Section 39 disability organisation and she was raising issues with me and I want to say I didn’t give her the time that I should’ve given her and I feel really bad about that because it’s not who I am,” Mr Harris said.
He added: “It’s not what makes me tick. I really, really passionately believe in disability services.”
He said he hopes to have a longer conversation with the woman so that she and others know he’s “in the business of listening, of learning, and of acting when it comes to disability services”.
Mr Harris also said that disability is an area he is determined to prioritise if he is elected taoiseach again, saying it is one of the reasons he got involved in politics.
“We’ve got to look after people with disabilities. We’ve got to empower them. We’ve got to support carers better and those who work in disability services.”
Sinn Féin’s health spokesperson David Cullinane accused Mr Harris of “running away from the public” following the incident.
He said on X that “it is one thing for Simon Harris to repeatedly tell Mary Lou [McDonald] in the Dáil that she is wrong when she factually points out Government failures.
“It’s something else entirely when he does it to members of the public,” he added.
Fine Gael to outline plan to tackle cost of living crisis
Fine Gael is to outline its plans to tackle the cost of living and make work pay at an event in Dublin.
A key focus for the party is cutting tax, putting money back in people’s pockets and ensuring nobody is better off on social welfare than in a job.
As part of Fine Gael’s plan, the existing outdated Jobseekers Allowance scheme will be overhauled and replaced by a new Working Age Payment.
This new system will end the welfare trap by ensuring a person always takes more money when they work.
Among the other measures that will be detailed today include:
- Increasing the higher tax band threshold by at least €2,000 per year, ensuring anyone earning up to €54,000 will be excluded;
- Raising the entry threshold for the 3% USC band from €27,382 to €40,000, and the entry threshold for the 8% USC band from €70,044 to €75,000;
- Increasing income tax credits by €75 euro per year;
- Introducing Pay-Related Parents Benefit;
- Abolition of prescription charges and cutting the cost of medicine to €50 a month;
- Exploring the provision of affordable rental accommodation specifically for frontline public sector workers, ensuring key workers can live close to their places of work.
The plan will be launched in Dublin today by Helen McEntee, Paschal Donohoe and Peter Burke.
Additional reporting Joe Mag Raollaigh
