a more clearly Christian Democrat\/centre-right identity<\/a>. He said he wanted to ensure \u201ca much more demanding approach to how public money is spent\u201d, to \u201cmaintain a tougher response to illegal immigration\u201d, to see more garda\u00ed and more prison spaces and to build greater defence capability.<\/p>\nSpeaking to about 1,200 delegates at UCC\u2019s Mardyke Arena in his live televised address, Harris said the budget \u2013 the second of the Government\u2019s term but the first for which he was responsible as Minister for Finance \u2013 had \u201cset us on a path\u201d. <\/p>\n
Expanding on this, he said: \u201cA path back to where we need to be. Where people can believe the unwritten contract between the State and its citizens is being honoured again. Where rights are respected. And both sides live up to their responsibilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s be honest,\u201d Harris said, \u201cthe debate has got a bit out of whack in this country where we only hear one side. Rights must always be balanced with responsibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSocial welfare must always be there for people when they need support. That is the mark of any decent society. But support comes with responsibility, too \u2013 everyone who can work should be expected to make a contribution.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that Fine Gael wanted to see \u201ca new Pathways to Work plan\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe need a renewed focus on intensive engagement with the long-term unemployed \u2013 tackling barriers, creating opportunities and getting people into work. And let me be clear, for those who refuse to engage, there will be penalties.\u201d<\/p>\n
On migration, he said Ireland used to be a country defined by emigration.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we have people from other countries choosing Ireland as a place to live, work, study, invest and raise families. I am talking about people who come here and make enormous contributions across every sector of our economy and society, and particularly our public services. Tonight I want to thank you for your positive contribution to Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, he added: \u201cWe also have a responsibility to continue a firmly managed approach to those who migrate to our country through routes other than work permits. And we need to maintain a tougher response to illegal immigration.\u201d<\/p>\n
Referring to his first period as Taoiseach, Harris said: \u201cWhen there were tents on the streets of Dublin becoming a serious health and safety risk, I showed how we can act swiftly and decisively.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris drew loud applause when he said that Fine Gael \u201cis and always will be the party of law and order\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is why we have more garda\u00ed now than at any point in the history of the State. But we simply cannot tolerate what we are seeing too much of in this country at this moment. Rampant disregard for authority. Flagrant anti-social behaviour. A lack of respect for public safety. For human life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has to stop. There must be real consequences. There must be more garda\u00ed recruited and trained. There must be more prison capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris promised to strengthen defence while maintaining Ireland\u2019s neutrality, and strongly criticised Sinn F\u00e9in, to the delight of delegates.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet no one fall for the Sinn F\u00e9in posturing on this issue or their pl\u00e1m\u00e1s about the Irish Defence Forces,\u201d he said. \u201cWe know there is only one \u00d3glaigh na h\u00c9ireann. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe party that hijacked that proud title for their own paramilitary wing \u2013 for the provos \u2013 has no authority, no authority whatsoever. The party that scaremongered its way through every European referendum has zero credibility. And they haven\u2019t changed. They\u2019re at it again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier, an enthusiastic crowd was geed up by a succession of speakers from the parliamentary party, including deputy leader Helen McEntee, Evanne Ni Chuilinn, Jerry Buttimer and Peter Burke. He drew cheers when he praised Minister Patrick O\u2019Donovan, absent on sick leave, of whom he said: \u201cMake no mistake, he will be back.\u201d <\/p>\n
The crowd also celebrated Sean Kyne\u2019s byelection win in Galway West earlier this year. Kyne had the role of introducing Harris, who entered to a raucous reception.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fine Gael leader Simon Harris said on Saturday night that he wants to see \u201cpenalties\u201d for people on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":678291,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[13308,3775,1346,61,60,43,70,44405],"class_list":["post-678290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-defence-forces","tag-fine-gael","tag-garda-siochana","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-simon-harris","tag-social-welfare-payments"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=678290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/678291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=678290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=678290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=678290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}