Simon Harris
Simon Harris | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister for Health | |
| Assumed office 6 May 2016 | |
| Taoiseach | Enda Kenny |
| Preceded by | Leo Varadkar |
| Minister of State at the Department of Finance | |
| In office 15 July 2014 – 6 May 2016 | |
| Taoiseach | Enda Kenny |
| Preceded by | Brian Hayes |
| Succeeded by | Eoghan Murphy |
| Teachta Dála | |
| Assumed office February 2011 | |
| Constituency | Wicklow |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 17 October 1986 Greystones, Wicklow, Ireland |
| Political party | Fine Gael |
| Alma mater | Dublin Institute of Technology |
| Profession | Journalist |
| Website | www |
Simon Harris (born 17 October 1986) is an Irish Fine Gael politician.[1][2] He was elected as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Wicklow constituency at the 2011 general election.[3] In May 2016, he was named Minister for Health in the Fine Gael minority government.
He was educated in St. David's Secondary School, Greystones, County Wicklow. He completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism at Dublin Institute of Technology, Aungier Street.[4]
Before his election to the Dáil, he served on Wicklow County Council, having been elected in June 2009 with the highest percentage vote of any County Councillor in Ireland. He was also a member of Greystones Town Council.[3]
As a County Councillor, Harris served as Chairperson of the County Wicklow Joint Policing Committee and Chairperson of the HSE Regional Health Forum. He was a member of Wicklow County Council's Housing Strategic Policy Committee and Wicklow Vocational Educational Committee.
He was the youngest member of the 31st Dáil.[5]
Harris served as a member of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC),[6] and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform.[7]
He served as a member of the Oireachtas cross party group on Mental Health and introduced the Mental Health (Anti Discrimination) Bill 2013 in June 2013.
He ran unsuccessfully as a Fine Gael candidate in the South constituency for the 2014 European Parliament election.
On 15 July 2014, he was appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Finance with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works, Public Procurement and International Banking.[8]
He was re-elected to represent Wicklow, along with Sinn Féin's John Brady at the 2016 general election.[9]
On 6 May 2016, he was appointed Minister for Health in the Fine Gael minority government, replacing Leo Varadkar.
References
- ^ "Mr. Simon Harris". Oireachtas Members Database. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
- ^ Collins, Stephen (2011). Nealon's Guide to the 31st Dáil and 24th Seanad. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan. p. 185. ISBN 9780717150595.
- ^ a b "Simon Harris". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
- ^ Donnelly, S. Elections 2011. p. 303. ISBN 9780952019787. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ^ "Meet your 76 new TDs". RTÉ News. 9 March 2011.
- ^ "Public Accounts Committee – Membership". Houses of the Oireachtas. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
- ^ "Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform – Membership". Houses of the Oireachtas. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
- ^ "Simon Harris among new Ministers of State". RTÉ News. 15 July 2014.
- ^ "Brady and Harris elected in Wicklow". Wicklow News. 27 February 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2016.