Results 24,141-24,160 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: My answer is much the same as it was yesterday. We will work through this issue. The Ministers, Deputies Paschal Donohoe and Simon Harris, are working through the process and we will come to a resolution which is fair and just. As the Deputy said, the issue involves other sectors besides hospitals and concerns section 39 bodies more generally, including in the disability sector and other...

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Some bodies had been compliant with public sector pay rules, while others were not. Regardless of whether they were instructed to do so, some did reduce pay in line with the FEMPI legislation, while others did not. We need to understand this and map things out properly.

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The Minister, Deputy Zappone, received permission from the Cabinet yesterday to publish the Bill and she will do so at her discretion in the coming days. There has certainly been an increase in child care costs and I know the enormous cost of child care for many young couples, which can be as much as the rent or mortgage, if not more. I would have to check the statistics to verify if the...

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I am told it is not the case but I am sure it is for some people. It is not the case in general, I believe, but I would have to check the statistics to be sure of it.

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Yes. I am happy to say the document will be inclusive of all cultures. The decision of this Government to recognise the distinct ethnicity of the Irish Traveller culture must be realised in many ways, and one of these is to ensure we include the expression of Traveller culture in that document when it is published.

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton, announced yesterday the payment of the minor works grant on a per capitabasis. I will check with him about 2018. The Deputy's information is not my information and I will check with him about it.

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I take this opportunity to recognise the extraordinary results in reading that Irish pupils achieved. They are the best readers in Europe, which is down to three factors.

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: These are the decision of the Government to invest in reading and literacy in particular, the excellent work of our primary teachers and the genius and intelligence of Irish children.

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The matter is working its way through the House, as the Deputy is aware. I do not see the urgency in it. I do not know how Slovenia changes its constitution but in Ireland, a referendum is required. Even if it is not a standalone question, the cost of carrying out the referendum would be between €10 million and €12 million. I know it is a core principle of socialism to waste...

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I reassure Deputy Healy-Rae that we have no plans for an outright ban on the burning of coal and turf but it certainly would be our objective, over time, to remove the burning of peat from power generation and perhaps the burning of coal as well in the medium to longer term. We debated climate change during questions to the Taoiseach last week and I laid out a number of actions being taken...

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The funding of individual wards in specific hospitals is a matter, in the first instance, for the Health Service Executive and, politically, for the Minister for Health. I will make him aware that the matter was raised again by the Deputy.

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: Yesterday, on the proposal of the Minister for Finance, the Cabinet approved the preparation of legislation necessary to raise the compulsory retirement age from 65 years of age to 70 for public servants who were recruited before 1 April 2004. Public servants recruited after that date are not required to retire at 65 years of age, but many of those recruited before then are subject to that...

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I do not have any information to hand on the particular local service to which the Deputy referred. He might submit a parliamentary question or a Topical Issue to the Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, or the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath.

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I am not aware of the delays to which the Deputy referred, but I will pass the information he has given to the line Minister.

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: It is a decision for the HSE, not the Government, as to which medicines and devices are reimbursed under the medical card scheme. Where the HSE removes a particular item, it is generally done for a good reason, often because of issues related to the availability of alternatives. I do not know the reason for withdrawal in this case.

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: The economic unit meets every day. In addition, there is a Cabinet sub-committee which meets once every six weeks or so. While acknowledging the significant variation between counties, it is important to emphasise that unemployment has fallen in every county. Between 60% and 80% of all jobs created in the past year were based outside Dublin. There is a lot more to job creation than the...

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: There is a commitment in the national drugs strategy to set up an extra working group to consider and report on the decriminalisation of possession of small amounts of drugs. Its establishment is imminent but I am not sure if it will be this week or next week. It is the Minister's intention to establish it before the end of the year and it will have about a year to do its work, after which...

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I believe the primary medical certificate is done by the Revenue Commissioners but I will mention it to both the Minister for Finance and the Ministers with responsibility for health and disability. The Deputy is right about the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Finian McGrath, received approval yesterday from...

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I understand there have been issues in Bus Éireann in recent times regarding rosters, absenteeism and industrial relations but they are not a matter for me or for this House. I do not have the figures in front of me but there has been a very significant increase in the public service obligation, PSO, levy paid to CIÉ companies in the past three years and there will be a further...

Questions on Promised Legislation (6 Dec 2017)

Leo Varadkar: I do not have any information to hand on Tallaght hospital and a parliamentary question to the Minister for Health or a Topical Issue matter would give a more detailed answer to the Deputy than I can offer. In regard to overall waiting lists for surgery, the number of people waiting for inpatient or day case procedures and operations has been falling for three months. I do not have the...