OPPOSITION PARTIES HAVE hit out at Fine Gael over the viral video of Simon Harris having a tense encounter with a carer, saying the frustration comes from years of government neglect of the disability sector.
Harris has since apologised to the woman, Charlotte Fallon, for the way he handled the situation, which occurred while he was canvassing in Kanturk, Co Cork, on Friday.
In the video, Charlotte accused the government of having “done nothing” for the disability sector, to which Harris responded “that’s not true” before walking off. The video of the full interaction can be viewed here.
“I’m human. I make mistakes. But you know what I do when I make a mistake? I own it.”
I put my hands up. I got it completely wrong.
Looking at the latest poll by The Sunday Times/Ireland Thinks, which was taken before the incident, support for Fine Gael is dwindling.
Harris says he’s not worried that his blunder will overshadow the election, as he believes people “will vote for whichever plans they think are best”.
At a campaign event in Mayo today, Harris was joined by former Taoiseach Enda Kenny, who said the election is “about the future of men, women and children in Ireland”.
“This election is about the future of men, women, and children in Ireland.”
— Fine Gael (@FineGael) November 24, 2024
—Former Taoiseach @endakennytd speaking in Mayo pic.twitter.com/FYFYsPpSQl
Harris also said that he hopes people “like to see humility in politics”.
For opposition parties, Harris’s humility appears to be too little, too late.
Speaking today, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said Harris is forgetting that his party’s policies have consequences.
“Maybe when you’re 14 years in government, you actually forget that the decisions you make at the Cabinet table actually have lived consequences out on the ground,” she said.
“So when you consistently underfund disability services, when you consistently disrespect peoepl with disabilities and carers, when you consistently underfund services that communities and people are relying on so heavily, there are consequences for that.
“When you go out on the campaign trail, you will meet the lived reality of your policies, and that to me is what happened on that occasion.”
McDonald says that support for her party exceeds what the favourable poll says, and that Sinn Fein is “in it to win it” five days out from polling day.
The Labour Party said that Charlotte showed a “frustration” that is widely felt by Section 39 workers and others who provide services to vulnarable people.
Section 39 organisations are groups which have service legal agreements with the HSE to provide health and social care within communities.
Senator Marie Sherlock said: “This government has failed them … it’s a bit late now for that apology to really do anything.
“The reality is that the next government as to put in place proper structures for those workers and for those who need those services, whether it’s for disability or for children.”
She continued: “It’s fine to apologise after the fact … [Section 39 workers] have been ignored in their pleas for many years about the severe recruitment and retention crisis.
“They cannot provide the services that they want to provide because of the shortages of staff, and this government has not listened to them.”
In more news that’s rocked Fine Gael, a €5 billion ‘black hole’ has been uncovered in the party’s spending plan in its manifesto.
The figure is contained in the section of the manifesto which looks at how much Fine Gael would spend over the next five years.
It shows that the party has not allocated enough money to cover its new spending commitments as well as what is estimated to be needed to maintain the existing level of services.
The discovery is an uncomfortable one for the government party, which puts responsible management of the public finances at the centre of its pitch to voters.
Speaking on the figure today, Harris said he welcomed the commentary, as he’s glad “we’re now talking about the economy”.
He said it’s “quite incredible” that the media have not scheduled a debate on the subject, saying Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohue “desperately wants” one.
Explaining the €5 billion missing in the manifesto, Harris said: We’ve looked at what the last couple of budgets have looked like and we’ve budgeted to do roughly the same existing level of services.
He said the plans are within Department guidelines, which advise limiting core spending growth to 5%.
Harris added that they also want to set money aside for “choppier days or for economic shocks”.
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