Results 22,781-22,800 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna - Questions: Departmental Strategy Statements (5 Jul 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The strategy statement will be a strategy statement for the Department of the Taoiseach. As there is a new Minister in the Custom House, there will also need to be a new strategy statement for the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government. I imagine that will be the statement which will deal with and answer some of the questions the Deputy has raised. The Rebuilding...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (5 Jul 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 to 7, inclusive, together. I spoke to President Trump by telephone last week. It was a short call, similar to a number of calls I have had in recent days. The President asked about Brexit and its impact on Ireland, as well as the peace process and the ongoing efforts to reinstate power-sharing in Northern Ireland. I outlined the current situation,...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (5 Jul 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I am fascinated to hear that President Trump attended a Sinn Féin fundraiser.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (5 Jul 2017)

Leo Varadkar: It is new information for me and very curious. I can confirm that he has not attended any Fine Gael fundraiser, to my knowledge. I have appointed Deputy John Deasy as a Government envoy to the US Congress, particularly to deal with issues around migration and the undocumented Irish. It does not supersede anyone else's role. It does not supersede the role of the Minister for Foreign...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (5 Jul 2017)

Leo Varadkar: It is an extra person.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (5 Jul 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I have answered those questions in the past. I did so in front of a television camera and what I said is there for anyone to see.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (5 Jul 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I do not wish to withdraw or repeat it because we have a relationship that we must build and maintain between our two countries. It is a very important relationship, one that will last longer than any President or Taoiseach or Administration or Government.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (5 Jul 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I said before and will say again that in meetings and engagements with the US Administration we will not hesitate to share our views with it on issues such as human rights and climate change and areas of foreign policy where we disagree. Countries that are friends - America is a friend of Ireland's - should be able to speak the truth to each other and we will do so.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (5 Jul 2017)

Leo Varadkar: We did not speak about the border adjustment tax specifically. It was a short call and we sketched an agenda for a meeting that we will most likely have in March. I mentioned Ireland's commitment to free trade and the fact that we are a country that believes in and is committed to continuing free trade. I took the opportunity to mention to President Trump that Ireland is the seventh...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (5 Jul 2017)

Leo Varadkar: In the United States there have been a number of special envoys appointed, including some to Ireland. Very often one meets people from Sweden who are a government-appointed ambassadors for a particular matter, such as climate change or lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual rights and so on.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (5 Jul 2017)

Leo Varadkar: No. There is no legal status and it is an appointment I have made. He will report to me. He will of course be supported by the embassy staff in Washington DC and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. There is no remuneration for it aside from reasonable expenses.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (5 Jul 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The ambassador speaks for the Government.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (5 Jul 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The ambassador speaks for the Government but Deputy Deasy will speak as my representative and on my behalf in engagements in Washington DC. It should be seen as an extra pair of hands or boots on the ground.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (5 Jul 2017)

Leo Varadkar: It is a supplementary role and he is someone who knows how Congress works. Let us see how it pans out.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (5 Jul 2017)

Leo Varadkar: It occurs to me how much things change over time. In 1995, when President Trump was in Sinn Féin, Deputy McDonald was in Fianna Fáil. Things change and change again.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (5 Jul 2017)

Leo Varadkar: He was in the company of Sinn Féin.

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (5 Jul 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The undocumented Irish in the United States remain a very high priority for the Government. The embassy in Washington DC is in ongoing contact with members of the community and politicians in that city. We understand immigration is of course a very politically sensitive matter and it will be difficult to separate the request of the Irish Government for regularisation of our citizens from...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (5 Jul 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Perhaps we should not separate the request if circumstances are much the same. We are providing €1.4 million in funding through the emigrant support programme and some of that is being used to assist people with immigration law problems in the United States. For example, additional funding is now being made available to the Coalition of Irish Immigration Centers to produce a fact...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Northern Ireland (5 Jul 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 to 10, inclusive, together. I spoke by phone with Prime Minister May on 27 June, when we discussed the ongoing talks process in Northern Ireland and our strong commitment to supporting the peace process as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement. We agreed to continue to work together to support the parties in reaching agreement to allow the...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Northern Ireland (5 Jul 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I want to say how much the Government regrets the fact that the parties in Northern Ireland failed to re-establish an Executive. People in Northern Ireland voted for devolved Government. They voted for home rule and because of the parties' inability to come to an agreement, that is not the case and they are being governed again by civil servants and British politicians. As well as that,...