Results 24,121-24,140 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (5 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 to 11 together. Cabinet committee A held its first meeting on 12 September. The Cabinet committee's focus will be on economic issues, including the implementation of the Action Plan for Jobs 2017 and preparation of a new, more focused action plan for next year; labour market policies, including the implementation of pathways to work and responding to...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cabinet Committees (5 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Deputies will be pleased to hear that this morning the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Deputy Regina Doherty, received approval from Cabinet to publish the employment (miscellaneous provisions) Bill. The Bill will be published in the next few days. It delivers on the programme for Government commitment to tackle some of the problems caused by casualisation of work and...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: European Council Meetings (5 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The European Council will meet in Brussels on 14 and 15 December. The draft agenda for the main meeting consists of security and defence - including Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) - and social, educational and cultural matters - where we expect a report on the recent Gothenburg Social Summit, and the proclamation of the European Pillar of Social Rights. Foreign policy issues might...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Departmental Funding (5 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: My Department has provided no funding to the groups in question.

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements (5 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I met with President Tusk in Dublin on Friday 1 December, when we discussed progress on the Brexit negotiations. I reiterated the need to ensure sufficient progress on the Irish-specific issues - maintaining the Common Travel Area, protecting the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts and the gains of the peace process, and avoiding a hard border - before moving to phase two of the...

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Freedom of Information Data (5 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 122 and 123 together. From the beginning of this year to 29 November, my Department received 325 requests under the Freedom of Information Act of which 50 were fully granted, 117 were partially granted, 87 were refused (including 60 where no records were held), 8 were transferred to other public bodies, 10 were withdrawn and 5 were handled outside of FOI....

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Taoiseach's Communications (5 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Under the Fresh Start Agreement concluded in 2015 between the British and Irish Governments and the main political parties in the North, the Irish Government reaffirmed its existing commitment to providing funding of £50 million for the A5 Western Transport Corridor serving the North West and also committed an additional £25m to the project. A Senior Officials Group was...

Leaders' Questions (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I did not have an opportunity to watch the programme last night as I had other commitments but I will make a point of doing so over the weekend. From what I have heard, and the briefing note that I have been given, I am familiar with two of the five families that were featured, one being a constituent who we have been trying to assist through my constituency clinic for a number of years...

Leaders' Questions (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Deputy Micheál Martin is quite right. Carers, including family carers, do not want or need soothing words from me or the Government. They need action. They do not want rhetoric and false promises from Deputy Micheál Martin either, given his record in government of cutting the disability budget three years in a row.

Leaders' Questions (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: He also took €16.50 per week from carers and people with disabilities.

Leaders' Questions (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Frankly, they do not want rhetoric or politics from either of us.

Leaders' Questions (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Both of us should do what we need to do, which is to make sure additional services will be provided. The Government is absolutely committed to doing this. The next budget will prioritise services and investment in infrastructure over tax cuts, as the last one did and the one before it. It is very much the position of the Government that for every euro we give back to working people in tax...

Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: As I acknowledged in my earlier contribution, I understand, as does everyone on this side of the House, the value and importance of respite care. It is hope on the horizon; it gives family carers the hope they need to continue doing what they are doing, knowing that they will get an evening or a weekend off. It is also very important for other members of the family. Often if there is one...

Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I will absolutely consider the proposal the Deputy has made. It has to be done in the context of the budget and the HSE service plan, and we will have to see whether his costings are correct because proposals that do not stand up and costings that are not correct do not merit much consideration. We will certainly examine what is being proposed. In terms of what was announced in the...

Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I have a clear view on this matter. My view is that a Europe that is worth building is a Europe that is worth defending. For a very long time, all of Europe has relied on the United States to provide for its defence. There are real threats to European security and, over time, rather than relying on the United States to defend Europe and pay for European defence, Europe should provide and...

Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I do not accept that I am being hawkish. I do not think that sending peacekeepers all around the world is hawkish. I do not think that sending ships to the Mediterranean to rescue refugees and pull children out of the water is hawkish.

Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I do not believe that using our Defence Forces and our police to train defence forces and police in unstable countries and new democracies around the world is hawkish. It is part of our obligations as global citizens and I think it is the right thing to do in the interests of our country. We want to be involved in PESCO. Not on the same basis as everyone in Europe, but on an opt-in...

Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: -----and being involved in those kinds of programme. For other countries in Europe, PESCO is going to be something different. They are going to opt as a bloc, en masse, into everything because they want Europe to be able to defend itself. France is in a different place than us, for example. So is Germany. Even now 70 years after the Second World War, there are American troops in Germany...

Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy very much. He will appreciate that this is still an evolving situation and it would be unwise and undiplomatic of me to answer his question as fully as I might like to in this Chamber, given that many people are paying attention to what we say here, and not just in this country. Regarding last Monday, if the Deputy checks the record, he will see that I actually said...

Leaders' Questions (Resumed) (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I have a slightly different view from the Deputy. I think it would be appropriate for all parties to see the text at the same time. Obviously, the European Commission, with our involvement, negotiates on one side, with the UK Government on the other. At the point at which texts are being shared with political parties, I do not see why the Green Party which operates North and South should...